When I Meet the Moon - Chapter 51

Chapter 51

"Captain, which of these windproof neck gaiters do you think suits me best?" Tang Lin held up a few semi-face-covering spinning yarn gaiters, her eyes sparkling as she stared fixedly at Fu Zhengchu.

She wore exquisite makeup, her oval face featuring small, delicate facial features.

"Any of them are fine." Faced with such eager enthusiasm, Fu Zhengchu looked them over carefully before replying.

Clearly unsatisfied with this answer, Tang Lin pressed further, "Little Junior, I asked which one is more suitable for a girl to wear."

Yun Li remembered that Tang Lin was in her first year of graduate school, two years older than Fu Zhengchu. When she thought Tang Lin was just joking about getting close to Fu Zhengchu last time, she never expected her actions to be so decisive.

Seeing Fu Zhengchu stammering, Tang Lin made her intentions completely clear and pushed a step further, "How about this, you help me pick one, and as a thank you, I'll buy one for you."

"There's no need..."

Fu Zhengchu's expression turned somewhat embarrassed, and he glanced nervously in the direction of Yun Li and the others.

Normally, he was lively and quite the chatterbox when hanging out with them, but now he was being backed into a corner step-by-step by Tang Lin.

Only then did Tang Lin notice the presence of the other two people. Her gaze lingered on Fu Shize's face for a few seconds before moving down to his tightly clasped hand with Yun Li. Her eyebrows arched upward, and she shot Yun Li a deeply meaningful look and a playful wink.

It seemed she completely failed to remember Fu Shize.

The others brought by Fu Zhengchu also gathered around this area.

Almost everyone naturally cast their gaze first toward the two remarkably good-looking people before them, and then down to their interlocked hands.

Yun Li instinctively wanted to avoid this attention and tried to pull her hand back.

She gave it a gentle tug, but Fu Shize used just enough strength to leave her with no way to break free.

When she made a second attempt to withdraw her hand, Fu Shize glanced at her. Yun Li had a bad premonition, and before she could react, he gave a firm pull and hauled her straight into his arms.

This movement caught the attention of the others. Seeing the scene, Fu Zhengchu felt rather awkward and quickly dragged the rest of the group away.

Yun Li steadied her posture and remarked, "Turns out my boyfriend is quite thick-skinned."

Fu Shize pinched her ear and replied, "Not yet enough."

Yun Li: "..."

Fu Shize: "Nobody's here now."

Yun Li: "..."

After staying in the shop for quite a while, Yun Li finally finished picking out her gear and left. With no other plans, the two drove back to EAW. As it happened, the company had recently brought in some new games that could be played in multiplayer mode.

The weekend experience center was open as usual. Fu Shize went to Xu Qingsong's office to pick up the equipment while Yun Li waited in the lounge, where she ran into He Jiameng, who was working overtime.

"Oh, Teacher Xianyun, coming in to work overtime on the weekend? Aren't you going on a date?"

Yun Li smiled. "I am on a date..."

"A date at the company?" She smiled with a sudden flash of realization. "Office romances aren't usually easy to make public, so sneaking in here like this must feel pretty thrilling, right?"

"..."

Yun Li glanced at her, gesturing for her not let her imagination run wild. He Jiameng didn't press further, wearing a deeply troubled expression instead. "The boss originally said he was coming to the company today, which is why I followed him here—I just wanted more chances for some alone time. But then his little cousin showed up."

"Still, as expected of family, she really is quite pretty," she continued. Realizing she stood no chance at one-on-one time with Xu Qingsong, she picked up her bag and brought her overtime session to an end.

Yun Li lowered her gaze to check the time; ten minutes had already passed, and Fu Shize still hadn't returned.

Hesitating for a moment, she walked over to Xu Qingsong's office door and knocked. From inside came Xu Qingsong's moderate voice telling her to "Come in."

Pushing the door open, she saw that aside from Xu Qingsong and Fu Shize, there was also a young woman in the room wearing long, straight black hair and a uniform skirt. The girl's gaze lingered on Yun Li for just a brief second, assuming she was a staff member of the company, before shifting away completely devoid of interest.

This was a face Yun Li could accurately match to the person in the photographs.

Seeing her arrive, Fu Shize walked toward her.

Believing he was about to leave, and completely unconcerned by Yun Li's presence, Lin Wanyin burst out angrily, "Aze, I came to look for you on New Year's Eve too, why were you dodging me?"

"..."

"Ever since Sister Sheng said you were in a relationship, I refused to believe it. You wouldn't even date me, how could you possibly find a girlfriend?" Ignoring his cold indifference, Lin Wanyin chattered incessantly as she followed right behind him.

Too lazy to humor her, Fu Shize reached out and took Yun Li's hand.

This intimate gesture was finally enough to capture Lin Wanyin's attention. Her scrutinizing gaze rested on Yun Li for a long time. "She's your girlfriend?"

Without waiting for an answer, Lin Wanyin continued with a nonchalant air, "Oh, well that doesn't matter anyway. Even if you're dating a girlfriend, I can still hang out with you."

Yun Li: "..."

Of the three people present, only the young woman was speaking with wide-eyed persistence. With a headache, Xu Qingsong stood up and forced himself to intervene. "Wanyin, let me take you around the neighborhood. Your uncle is going on a date, so stop disturbing them."

"No way." Lin Wanyin flatly refused. "I made a special trip all the way here, so Aze has to keep me company."

Her tone carried a sense of grievance and blame. "Besides, I don't even mind the two of you staying together, surely your girlfriend wouldn't mind having one more person around, right?"

"Do you mind?" Lin Wanyin asked, staring straight at Yun Li.

Yun Li: "..."

Relying on her familial ties to Fu Shize, she seemed entirely certain that Yun Li wouldn't refuse in a situation like this.

Yun Li met her provocative gaze, feeling as though an impulsive, hot-headed child had mistakenly wandered into the office. Before Fu Shize could step in, she spoke calmly, "I do mind."

Lin Wanyin: "..."

Yun Li raised her eyes to look at Fu Shize. "I want to go back."

Xu Qingsong shot Fu Shize a meaningful look and intercepted Lin Wanyin before she could recover.

Unclear of what Lin Wanyin actually wanted, Yun Li felt she seemed like a spoiled child raised in excess. After the two of them stepped outside, they hadn't even walked two steps before Lin Wanyin chased after them, stubbornly trailing about two meters behind.

When their pace sped up, she kept close; when their pace slowed, she slowed down right along with them.

"..."

Yun Li looked over at Fu Shize. His face was taut with a trace of impatience. Eager to escape as quickly as possible, he pulled her along and walked a little faster.

Seeing that the two of them completely ignored her, Lin Wanyin fumed, "I spent a whole hour getting out here!" Throwing caution to the wind, she blurted out, "I'm not even an adult yet, and you're just dumping me here! If anything happens to me, you'll bear full responsibility, and my parents won't forgive you!"

Such threats didn't seem to work on Fu Shize, but they left Yun Li feeling deeply unsettled. Even after getting into the car, Lin Wanyin ran toward them; Yun Li could only watch through the rearview mirror as she stopped in her tracks and threw her backpack onto the ground.

Barely two minutes after the car pulled away, Fu Shize's phone started buzzing frantically. Yun Li glanced over and saw that several incoming calls were from his parents.

By now, Lin Wanyin had surely complained to the elders.

Fu Shize dialed Xu Qingsong's number. "Why didn't you tell me she was coming?"

"My personal freedom was completely stripped away." Xu Qingsong sounded helpless. "She snatched my phone the moment she walked through the door."

"..."

Fu Shize hung up the phone.

"Is that your niece?" Yun Li leaned back against the seat, looking forward. "I accidentally saw her sending you a lot of messages before..."

Fu Shize: "I didn't look."

"Does she like you?"

"..."

"I suppose so."

Yun Li was shocked. "She actually wants to commit incest."

"..."

"Then if you don't want to give her any hope, shouldn't you just reject her directly?" Yun Li looked left and right, bringing up past accounts. "Just like you rejected me before."

"..."

Fu Shize parked the car by the side of the road and looked at Yun Li. She showed no trace of anger as she said this, causing his expression to soften. He unbuckled his seatbelt, leaned over, and gently pulled her into his arms.

Barely a second into the hug, he cupped Yun Li's face and licked her lips. Taken aback for a moment, she quickly recovered and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Only when she was completely out of breath did Fu Shize finally let her go and buckle her seatbelt back up. Noticing his phone screen light up with the tenth missed call, Yun Li asked hesitantly, "Isn't it a bit bad to just leave her stranded over there?"

Seeing how things played out today, Yun Li could guess that Lin Wanyin was engaged in a one-sided, relentless pursuit, relying on the backing of elders without caring about the other person's attitude or circumstances.

Still, if Lin Wanyin was underage and had made a special trip just to find Fu Shize, he would undoubtedly face blame from others if any accident befell her.

Yun Li didn't want to see that happen.

Fu Shize looked at her, and Yun Li half-joked, "After all, she's your niece-niece, and to a certain extent, she's utterly devoted to you..."

Unwilling to continue the topic, he also half-joked with an ambiguous tone, "Didn't get enough kisses?"

"..."

Upon arriving home, Yun Li was hit by a continuous barrage of exclamation points from Deng Chuqi.

Deng Chuqi: [You and Xiaxia's little uncle moved in together??]

Not knowing where she got this news, Yun Li replied: [How is that possible, who told you that?]

Deng Chuqi: [That Lin Wanyin. Xiaxia said she posted on Moments claiming the two of you moved in together.]

The words startled Yun Li so much she bounced off the sofa, hurriedly carrying Fu Shize's phone into the kitchen where he was washing strawberries. "Can I check your WeChat?" she asked.

Fu Shize let out an affirmative hum. Unrushed, he washed a strawberry, bit half of it off himself, and held the remaining half up to her lips.

As her focus narrowed to the object right in front of her, his face looked slightly blurred. Yun Li parted her lips slightly, and he pushed the strawberry into her mouth, his thumb lingering on her lower lip to stroke it twice.

Blushing, Yun Li pushed his hand away and flurriedly swallowed the strawberry.

Searching for Lin Wanyin on WeChat, she saw that the most recent messages in the chat window were voice notes, while everything above was just question marks. Yun Li scrolled up, only to find an endless sea of question marks.

"..."

She converted the voice messages into text. As the messages popped up, Yun Li's calm expression began to crack.

[I just like you, and I've never done anything to hurt you. Why are you treating me like this?]

[What's wrong with liking my own uncle?]

[I don't even mind your girlfriend, and I don't care about a title, can't you just acknowledge me for once?]

Reading these messages made Yun Li furious, feeling that her boyfriend was being subjected to emotional blackmail.

Tapping into Lin Wanyin's Moments, the caption of the latest post read: [Came to visit little uncle, but little uncle and his girlfriend were in a rush to head home. I'm just a pitiful single dog wuwu.]

The two of them shared quite a few mutual friends. The post had first accumulated a massive wave of likes, followed by a few prominent comments below.

Dad: [[snicker]]

Mom: [[snicker]]

Mom replied to Dad: [A day of nationwide celebration [flower] [flower]]

Dad replied to Mom: [[thumbs up] [thumbs up] [thumbs up]]

These should be Fu Shize's parents. Neither of them had probably mentioned their relationship to the family yet, but Lin Wanyin's push had directly made their romance public right in front of his relatives.

Strangely enough, it left her feeling a little happy.

Returning to the main chat interface, Fu Shize's parents had sent quite a few messages. Before she could open them, a video call came through—it was his father.

Yun Li brought the phone into the kitchen. Fu Shize frowned. "Don't answer."

When the call timed out without being picked up, the video call stubbornly rang again. Fu Shize turned off the faucet, picked up the phone, and simply switched it to silent.

"..."

"Shouldn't you still pick one up?" Seeing his phone screen go dark and light up again, Yun Li couldn't bear it.

Fu Shize: "He never used to video call me before."

Yun Li: "?"

Fu Shize: "Lin Wanyin probably talked to him. He wants to see you."

Noticing Yun Li's lack of reaction, he paused what he was doing and asked, "Do you want to see him?"

"No, no, that's way too fast." Yun Li immediately shook her head. Even after saying that, she felt it wasn't enough, so she helped him flip the phone face down so the video call notification was hidden.

Seeing her refuse so quickly, Fu Shize raised his eyelashes, his gaze thoughtful.

Water trickled from the fruit basket into the sink as Fu Shize turned off the tap. "Do you think it's fast?"

A definitive answer might sound like a lack of confidence in their relationship, so Yun Li shook her head and said earnestly, "Meeting is fine too."

Fu Shize fell silent for a moment before asking again, "Then what about sharing a tent?"

Though she hadn't spent the night with him yet, she had harbored various speculations and expectations about that scenario. Yun Li admitted honestly, "Not fast. But can you wear clothes when you sleep?"

"..." The corners of his lips curved upward. "Do you wear clothes when you sleep normally?"

"Yes."

"Alright," he tilted his head and retorted, "Then can you sleep without clothes?"

"..."

Unable to win the argument, Yun Li could only resign herself to awaiting that day's arrival. Oddly enough, as the date drew closer day by day, the nervousness in her heart began to fade.

Several times she found herself wondering if he would buy a couple's sleeping bag.

Lin Wanyin's little interlude failed to stir up any further ripples.

When the day of the camping trip arrived, Fu Shize drove over to pick her up, having already packed their luggage in advance. The campsite was a three-hour drive from the city center, and they drove separately right behind the tour bus.

Fu Shize fastened her seatbelt and kissed her forehead before setting off.

Upon arriving at the campsite, Yun Li helped Fu Shize pitch the tent on level ground—an orange two-person tent.

With over a dozen tents scattered across the flat ground, Yun Li snapped a photo before taking a seat by the pre-set mini hot pot. As the group leader for this activity, Fu Zhengchu had already organized the participants to cluster their flashlights together for illumination.

Fu Shize fetched a blanket and draped it over her shoulders. The blanket was large enough that once he sat down, Yun Li wrapped the other corner around him as well.

Beneath the blanket, their bodies pressed close together. Yun Li stealthily stroked the back of Fu Shize's hand; he naturally turned his hand over to grip hers back, sliding upward to massage the upper part of her wrist.

They had also brought quite a bit of beer.

Before attending, Yun Li had assumed she would spend the entire time exclusively with Fu Shize without needing to interact with anyone else.

The dozen or so participants took turns introducing themselves. Since they were the only couple on-site, Tang Lin smiled and asked, "How did the two of you end up together?"

Yun Li glanced at Fu Shize and replied, "We just met..."

Another girl asked, "And then it was love at first sight?"

Yun Li: "Not quite. I chased him."

"Who chased who?"

Yun Li wasn't shy about admitting that she had pursued Fu Shize. Before she could speak, Fu Shize said, "I chased her."

She looked at Fu Shize, who even cooperated by pinching her fingers, and the topic smoothly passed by. For the rest of the time, she and Fu Shize hid inside their blanket like two creatures isolated from the world, both quietly staring at the mini hot pot in front of them.

Listening to the people nearby discuss previous hiking trips she had joined, Yun Li turned her head in that direction several times, wanting to say something, but always lacking the courage.

Someone came over to strike up a conversation with them—it was the guy sweeping the rear of the group, who belonged to the same club as Fu Zhengchu.

"My name is Gu Kaiming." The guy brought a bottle of beer and poured them each a cup in paper cups. Normally Fu Shize would have refused, but this time he didn't.

Yun Li greeted him, and Gu Kaiming casually sat down on their picnic mat.

"Your girlfriend is very gorgeous." Gu Kaiming said this to Fu Shize, who nodded and said, "Thank you."

"Don't be shy, everyone's really nice." Noticing Yun Li's tension, Gu Kaiming smiled at her and said, "Let me introduce you to the others."

Yun Li looked at Fu Shize, who gave a nod of assent while showing no personal interest himself, staying put to play with the mini hot pot.

Though a veteran introvert, Yun Li also yearned to integrate into such a collective. She followed alongside Gu Kaiming. While not terribly eloquent, she managed to blend into the conversation with the help of others.

Strangers didn't seem quite so hard to get along with after all...

When she looked back at Fu Shize, he was sitting alone in boredom, anyone who tried chatting with him having been driven away after two sentences by his aloofness.

Yet his gaze remained steadfastly fixed upon her.

This supportive gaze served as a shot of adrenaline for Yun Li. When she finally looked back at Fu Shize again, over an hour had passed.

He was still sitting in the same spot. The flashlights from earlier had been taken by others, and his figure, half-concealed in the darkness, looked somewhat desolate. Struck by a pang of guilt, Yun Li said her goodbyes to the others and hurried back to his side.

"I was gone for too long." She sat down. Earlier when she left, Fu Shize had told her to take the blanket, and by now his body felt icy cold, prompting Yun Li to wrap him in two layers of the blanket.

Sitting there, his whole demeanor resembled a frozen corpse. Finding it inexplicably amusing, Yun Li asked, "Are you still cold?"

Fu Shize: "Mn."

Yun Li tucked the blanket tighter around him, sensing he was being serious. "Then what should we do?"

He stared at her. "Need a heat source."

Yun Li: "..."

"Let's go." He stood up, wrapped Yun Li inside the blanket too, and pulled her toward the woods. By this time, most people had dispersed, and their departure didn't attract anyone's attention.

The two of them walked near a patch of grassland—a small depression enclosed by rocks on three sides.

It was a very secluded spot.

While Yun Li was still scanning the terrain and failing to notice the dip in the ground, she tripped and fell forward.

Landing on the soft grass didn't hurt, but the movement was somewhat clumsy. Fu Shize, trapped inside the blanket with her, was also dragged down to the ground.

He even let out a laugh.

Speechless, Yun Li tried to get up, but his hands threaded through the gaps between her arms, propping himself up on the ground as he leaned forward close to her. Yun Li retreated step by step, ending up flat on her back on the grass.

The lighting was dim, making his facial features indistinct, but his scent was intimately familiar. Fu Shize's breathing slowly grew heavier, while Yun Li's first reaction at the moment was still to check her surroundings.

He gently pinched her chin, forcing her to look him in the eyes, and smiled. "You're always distracted at critical moments."

"What if someone sees us... I'm eliminating potential hazards for us," Yun Li defended herself.

"Hazards?" He leaned close to her ear. "Right in front of you."

Before she could react, Fu Shize's lips brushed against the corner of her face, gradually migrating to her lips. Looking at those lowered eyes and the stars scattered across the sky, Yun Li mustered her strength, rolled over, and pinned Fu Shize beneath her.

His body stiffened, his gaze darkening as he reined in his breathing.

Yun Li first brushed the corner of his lips. Kissing him with this move for the first time, her face flushed red, and she panted, "I want you to look at the stars too."

Only then did Fu Shize notice the sea of stars behind her. Her eyes were clear and bright, her voice soft and sweet as she spoke to him, and her earlier action had been utterly innocent with no hidden meaning.

His desire still lingered. When he raised his head to kiss her, Yun Li dodged and pushed against his chest. "Look at them."

Her tone even sounded a little impatient.

"Fine."

He obediently flopped flat onto the ground. The clouds cleared away, and the shifting blue-gray sky bloomed with white specks of light alongside a streak of transparent thin mist.

Those weren't just stars—it was the Milky Way.

She was earnest and persistent in wanting him to witness the beautiful scenery she had seen.

Fu Shize suddenly burst into laughter.

It was an unreserved, unrestrained laughter.

"Saw them," he laughed. "And saw you too."

Cupping the back of Yun Li's head, he pressed her downward while his other hand clamped firmly around her waist. Their warm, damp lips pressed together once more, and unable to hide his surging heartbeat any longer, he released all of his restrained emotions at once.

The two of them lay flat side-by-side on the grass, shoulders touching. The night breeze gently drifted by, the air carried a faint scent of earth, and the surroundings were blanketed in utter tranquility.

Seeing a vast expanse of stars for the first time, with the Milky Way standing like a phantom in the corner, she felt the warmth in her palm and curved the corners of her eyes.

Wanting to sneak a peek at Fu Shize, she turned her head, only to crash straight into his gaze. Yun Li was startled. "Aren't you looking at the stars?"

"Don't want to." Lying on his side with his head propped up on his hand, Fu Shize moved a little closer, his eyes fixed on her. "Didn't come to see the stars."

...

Returning to the tent, Fu Shize hung the flashlight overhead. The campsite was remote, and with no restrooms nearby, it wasn't convenient for her to do these things with Fu Shize, so she agreed to find a small corner with Tang Lin.

Tang Lin had an outgoing personality and had already warmed up to the others, having gone to watch the starlight with them earlier.

"Yun Li, you didn't see it—when your boyfriend said he was the one who chased you, everyone around was so envious," Tang Lin exaggeratedly mimicked the expressions of the others at the time. "Though it's true, given your boyfriend's personality, I actually thought you were the one chasing him."

"He's so cold, he must have loved you to death before he made up his mind to chase you, right?"

Yun Li had never thought about what Tang Lin was saying; their relationship had simply developed steadily like any normal couple.

Sometimes she wondered why Fu Shize liked her, but she wasn't someone who liked bringing trouble upon herself.

Fu Shize certainly looked like he liked her a lot.

Still, "loving her to death" probably hadn't reached that extreme level yet.

Tang Lin continued, "Actually, I'm so envious of you too. Your boyfriend is fucking drop-dead gorgeous—handsome, cool, and devoted only to you. Ah, I want one too."

Snapped back to reality by her, Yun Li was reminded of Fu Zhengchu's four or five past relationships and asked, "Are you chasing Fu Zhengchu?"

"Yes!" Tang Lin looked somewhat dejected. "Though he's a bit too cold. I added him on WeChat, but his replies aren't very enthusiastic."

Which didn't match Fu Zhengchu's persona in her impression, so Yun Li remained silent.

"He seemed to talk to your boyfriend today, do they know each other?"

Yun Li calmly stated, "My boyfriend is his uncle."

"..."

Tang Lin's mouth twitched. "Your boyfriend doesn't look that old." She chuckled mischievously. "Mature men aren't bad either, they know how to take care of you."

"My boyfriend is the same age as me. They just have different family generations." After Yun Li explained, Tang Lin didn't pay much attention, her eyes shining instead. "Then aren't you guys super close with Fu Zhengchu? My family runs a pet store, how about the two of you drag Fu Zhengchu along and come visit?"

Seeing Yun Li hesitate, she shook her arm and coaxed, "Please, everything will be on the house! Your boyfriend is so handsome, he definitely likes dogs!"

The two facts had no correlation whatsoever.

However, outside the office the other day, Fu Shize had specifically bought fishballs to tease a puppy. That scene had left a deep impression on her.

She only said she had to go back and ask, without giving Tang Lin a definite answer.

"Still, since your boyfriend is so handsome, you've got to keep a tight leash on him. My ex-boyfriend was also very handsome, but he just got impulsive and got together with me, and once the honeymoon phase passed, he turned super cold." Tang Lin rinsed her hands with bottled water. "It's best to lock down the relationship early."

Lock down the relationship?

Yun Li wore a puzzled expression. Tang Lin answered her with a look—meaning precisely the kind of relationship confirmation one would imagine.

She was momentarily at a loss for words.

Back inside the tent, Yun Li was still thinking about what Tang Lin had said, but the faint unease in her heart vanished the moment she laid eyes on that face.

Staring at it, Yun Li grew more and more satisfied.

She snuggled closer to him. "They said having a boyfriend like you gives me a lot of face."

Fu Shize had been hanging out in the tent for a while, and said casually, "What do you think?"

Yun Li: "Then I'm a hundred percent in agreement."

He rubbed her head and lazily scrolled through the latest tech news.

"I made you dessert." Yun Li took a few small boxed cakes out of her bag. "Should we send a box to Fu Zhengchu too?"

Fu Shize: "Let him come get it himself."

Yun Li: "Then are you going to eat now?"

Fu Shize: "Mn."

She unwrapped a box, but Fu Shize didn't move an inch, rapidly scrolling through articles on his phone screen.

Yun Li shoved the cake directly in front of his screen.

Lazily leaning backward, Fu Shize said, "No hands."

With one arm around Yun Li and his phone in the other hand, Yun Li was speechless. She unwrapped a spoon for him and scooped up a bite.

He ate it with a hooked smile.

After finishing the dessert, the two went outside to wash up before Fu Shize came back and laid out the sleeping bags. He had brought two individual sleeping bags, not the couple's sleeping bag Yun Li had imagined.

Once they were laid out, Yun Li stared at him. He hadn't slept naked as he previously claimed either, simply shedding his outer coat and sweater before crawling straight in.

Yun Li felt a tinge of disappointment.

Being a fairly conservative person, she had perhaps harbored too many imaginations about this night. With reality falling short of her ideal, disappointment was inevitable.

Noticing her expression, Fu Shize: "..."

"Want to see?"

He sat up halfway out of the sleeping bag, met her gaze, and slowly pulled upward on the hem of his clothes with both hands. First came a small inch of fair skin exposed, followed by his abdomen.

Yun Li's breath caught, and she quickly grabbed his hands, carefully helping him pull his clothes back down.

He watched her actions with amusement. Before the two could continue sparring, Fu Shize's figure flickered outside the tent.

When the zipper pulled open, Fu Zhengchu took the boxed cake handed over by Yun Li, his peripheral vision catching the two separate sleeping bags inside the tent, prompting him to shake his head with a sigh-like gesture.

Returning to his own tent, he unwrapped the cake—it was matcha-flavored—and tapped open his chat window with Fu Shize.

Fu Zhengchu: [Little Uncle, you actually brought two single sleeping bags.]

Fu Zhengchu: [Are you broken!!]

His phone chimed with a simple text emoji, consisting of an enlarged "Oh". Seeing Fu Shize use an emoji for the very first time, Fu Zhengchu blinked and nearly choked on his cake.