Chapter 613

Early the next morning, Mu Youyu and Jiang Liangjin walked along the Mountain Villa's road, holding hands.

The mountain air in the early morning was exceptionally fresh and moist; rows of staggered villas lined the Future Path, their style elegant and refined.

The stone-paved road bent ahead, disappearing into a dense bamboo grove; wind passing through the bamboo leaves made a rustling sound, muffling the footsteps on the mountain path.

Mu Youyu was led forward by him, her light-colored eyes lingering long on their clasped hands—the hand that completely enveloped her slender one, knuckles distinct, also wearing a ring.

The more she looked, the more she liked it, unable to resist shaking her hand, she asked, 'What time did you go to sleep last night? You got up so early today, yet you're still so energetic?'

Jiang Liangjin lowered his gaze, 'Just thinking about being able to walk this road with you today kept me from sleeping.'

Mu Youyu's heart stirred at his words, 'Wow, who did you learn that mouth from?'

'I learned it from you.' Jiang Liangjin lowered his head, forehead touching hers, 'Subtle influence.'

Mu Youyu didn't recall having said that herself.

After walking a bit further, she suddenly let go of his hand, stepped on his shadow and moved forward, each step landing on his shoulder blade.

Jiang Liangjin didn't dodge; instead, he deliberately slowed his pace to let her step more accurately.

When she turned her head, sunlight happened to filter through the gaps in the leaves, scattering into gold on his eyelashes.

'What are you doing?' Mu Youyu lifted her face to meet his smiling eyes, asking though she already knew.

'Waiting for you to step enough.' Jiang Liangjin then stepped back half a step, her shoe sliding out of his shadow onto the blue stone slab, making an extremely soft sound.

Mu Youyu was made unsteady by this action, leaning forward, and he reached out to catch her wrist.

She blinked, teasingly saying, 'I'm stepping on your shadow; Wanwan said stepping on shadows keeps you from growing tall.'

Jiang Liangjin heard that, not only did he not let go, but he pulled her toward him, lowered his head, drew close, and lowered his voice: 'It's fine; I'm already tall enough.'

His warm breath brushed past her ear; Mu Youyu shrank her neck trying to dodge, but her waist was encircled and she fell into his embrace.

Just as the two were about to take the next step, a sudden voice rang out: 'Hey hey hey, don't look at what's improper, don't look at what's improper, friends!'

'Good good good, the hug is quite standard, a perfect-score move.'

'Yo, which family's little couple is this? I've never seen them around here before.'

'Keep it down, crickets—others don't need to be that loud.'

The two: '……'

Jiang Liangjin feared these people would go out and gossip, affecting his fiancée's reputation, so he slowly withdrew the hand resting on her waist.

Several people who looked about the same age walked toward them; at the front was a guy with a flashy outfit, silver studs gleaming delicately in his ear cartilage.

He had seen their hair colors before; at first he thought they were just a young couple coming here for a date, but as they approached he glanced casually at Mu Youyu, then his gaze fixed on Jiang Liangjin's face.

Then his pupils contracted sharply, as if he had seen something he couldn't look away from.

His gaze shifted back to Mu Youyu, his eyes rolled, and he revealed a friendly Smile: 'Good morning, are you also here on vacation? I've seen you around these days.'

His companions winked and teased, laughing.

Mu Youyu finally understood why Jiang Ye Ye had said that this building basically housed children from wealthy families sent here to learn manners.

She merely gave a slight nod, not intending to chat further, and was about to pull Jiang Liangjin to continue forward when the boy rushed ahead a few steps to catch up.

He spoke a bit faster: 'I just arrived a few days ago; my name is Cheng Mao, I study at Politics and Law University, and I'm here with my grandfather for a few days.'

His friends' gazes were ambiguous.

Seeing him stare at his fiancée like that, Jiang Liangjin was extremely displeased: 'Oh, and then?'

Cheng Mao saw his impatience but still smiled: 'Sorry to disturb you; we mean no harm, we're just strolling around. I wanted to ask, was that older sister standing over there… with you guys?'

Mu Youyu blinked: 'Which older sister?'

Cheng Mao pointed to the courtyard they had just passed, his Expression sheepish: 'It's that older sister with her hair tied up, wearing a beige sun-protective shirt, a sun hat, and a silver chain on her wrist—especially, especially, especially beautiful. I happened to see her standing there these past few days when I passed by.'

'Just passing by?' Jiang Liangjin didn't believe it.

Every little courtyard here has a yard, and the nearby courtyards are inhabited by people from the same circle; Jiang Ye Ye had taken them to meet them all.

In contrast, their group was completely unfamiliar—certainly not locals.

His companions followed along, covering up.

'Exactly, exactly, just passing by—we definitely weren't intentionally going to look.'

'Yeah, yeah, we just wanted to go along the way, merely passing by here—we truly didn't come specially to investigate.'

'……' This guy was practically about to carve the two characters 'intentional' into his forehead.

The direction he pointed was indeed their courtyard.

Mu Youyu's eyes flickered; she instantly thought of Shen Ningmu—the description matched her exactly.

She tilted her head to look at Jiang Liangjin; his Expression was subtle, it seemed he had thought of the same person.

Cheng Mao didn't read the room, he just went on: "It's just... I feel her aura is especially elegant, I want to get to know her."

Ah, she has such an older-sister vibe, he likes it!

When he spoke again, his tone had a hint of ingratiation: "Are you her sister? I often see you sitting together chatting; you look very much alike."

He said this with particular insincerity; actually, this guy looks more like that older sister.

However, that older sister clearly gets along better with this younger sister.

"?" Jiang Liangjin's gaze darkened a fraction.

Cheng Mao was still waiting for a reply.

Mu Youyu looked at his earnest expression and also found it interesting.

Jiang Liangjin was slightly narrowing his eyes, beginning to size up this clueless guy in front of him.

Mu Youyu reached out and gently tugged Jiang Liangjin's sleeve, not letting him directly tell the person to leave, and instead said to Cheng Mao: "She is my... aunt."

"What did you say?" Cheng Mao blinked; he had thought that older sister and the two peers in front of him were of the same generation, "Aunt?"

He repeated the word, his tone obviously confused.

Mu Youyu's tone turned a bit more gentle: "Yes, to be precise, she is my fiancé's mother."

The moment those words fell, Cheng Mao's Expression was like it had been hit with a pause button, moving back and forth between them several times, as if trying to digest the information.

His several friends behind let out a few suppressed laughs, clearly enjoying the spectacle.

Cheng Mao snapped back, "Ah, this, this is how it is."

He gave a dry cough, his ears slightly red, "That auntie really takes good care of herself."

He stayed excited for a long time these past few days, thinking he had found his true love.

Jiang Liangjin lifted her cool, aloof brows, "Thank you."

Cheng Mao straightened his body, that fervent enthusiasm largely faded, revealing a polite but slightly awkward smile, "Well, sorry to bother you, I'll be leaving now; hopefully we'll meet again if fate allows."