Xu Jinsi and Liu Qingye had gone out on a date.
Ji Liuyue was standing in the entryway putting on her shoes when Lu Nanxun followed her up at an unhurried pace.
She heard him say in a lowered voice, “You seem a little disappointed.”
Lu Nanxun pressed his lips together and stubbornly denied it. “I’m not.”
The two of them got into the van together.
After fastening her seat belt, Ji Liuyue turned to look at Lu Nanxun and noticed that he was staring straight ahead, looking unusually quiet.
She took the initiative to ask, “Are you an introvert?”
Lu Nanxun nodded slowly. “Maybe.”
Ji Liuyue gave a soft “Oh” and remarked, “No wonder.”
After saying that, she couldn’t help yawning. The drive to their date location was fairly long, so she could just sleep well in the car.
She reached out for the blanket on the back seat, but her fingers fell just short.
She didn’t call Lu Nanxun over to help. Instead, she simply stretched her arm as far as she could.
Lu Nanxun couldn’t just sit there and do nothing.
He stretched out his long arm, tugged the gray blanket free, and handed it to her.
“Here.”
Ji Liuyue looked slightly surprised. Her almond-shaped eyes swiveled around as she said earnestly, “Lu Nanxun.”
Lu Nanxun looked puzzled. “Huh?”
Ji Liuyue said, “Nothing. I just think your name sounds nice.”
Lu Nanxun still didn’t understand.
“Thanks, I guess.”
The corners of Ji Liuyue’s lips lifted as she wrapped the gray blanket around herself. Then she closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat to rest.
Lu Nanxun still found her inexplicable.
But an inexplicable sense of delight rose in his heart.
The drive to their date location was a long one. The driver arranged by the production crew would need to drive for fifty minutes.
Lu Nanxun closed his eyes as well. He was a little particular about where he slept, and he hadn’t slept well at the house the night before. He had been groggy and listless.
Only now, in the car, was he beginning to feel drowsy again.
He fell into a deep sleep.
He didn’t know how much time had passed when he suddenly felt a heavy weight settle on his left shoulder.
He opened his eyes abruptly and discovered that Ji Liuyue’s head had tipped onto it.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the fair, lustrous skin of her profile, her pale lips pressed together, and her long eyelashes casting shadows like feathers.
Lu Nanxun’s entire body stiffened.
He had never been this close to an unfamiliar woman before and had no idea what to do.
His first impulse was to push her away, but seeing how sweetly she was sleeping, he felt that waking her would be rather impolite.
And so he became caught in another dilemma.
After struggling with his thoughts for quite some time, Lu Nanxun finally decided to move himself toward the car door. That way, Ji Liuyue’s head would lose its support, and she ought to wake up naturally.
Who would have thought that when he shifted toward the door, Ji Liuyue—sleeping soundly—would simply move her head closer to his shoulder.
Lu Nanxun: “…”
Someone save him!
Just as a thin sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead and he was growing frantic, unsure of what to do, Ji Liuyue slowly opened her eyes.
Her almond-shaped eyes glimmered with moisture and held a trace of drowsy confusion.
It seemed she hadn’t yet realized where she was or what was happening.
She raised her head, her dazed gaze landing on Lu Nanxun for three seconds.
“Oh? You’re here too?”
The moment she finished speaking, her eyes cleared. She hurriedly pulled away and returned to her own seat, sitting upright with her back straight.
She even wiped the corner of her lips with a finger before asking, “I didn’t drool in my sleep just now, did I?”
A subtle feeling flickered through Lu Nanxun’s heart once more.
Especially when Ji Liuyue had looked at him with that innocent, dazed expression just moments ago, something in him had softened, as though he had been struck by it.
She was cute.
Yes—that had been his thought in that instant.
He had actually thought that the girl in front of him was very cute.
But he had clearly also witnessed Ji Liuyue’s undisguised mockery and malice toward Yezi at the dinner table the night before.
He knew, too, that Ji Liuyue had deliberately stolen the spotlight in front of the cameras when everyone had gathered together.
He knew all about her lack of propriety and her flaws.
So why was it that, in that fleeting moment, he had still been unable to stop himself from thinking she was cute?
Lu Nanxun cleared his throat and replied calmly, with perfect politeness and warmth, “I was asleep too, so I didn’t see anything.”
“That’s good.” Ji Liuyue stretched, then leaned forward and asked the driver, “Big brother, how much longer until we get there?”
The driver replied, “Almost there. About five minutes.”
…
Qixin Equestrian Club, Hai City.
The date location for Ji Liuyue and Lu Nanxun that day was horseback riding.
After arriving, the two of them went into separate changing rooms to put on their riding clothes.
Lu Nanxun preferred peace and quiet and wasn’t particularly fond of horseback riding. However, he knew how to ride. After all, his family had been familiar with such social activities since he was young.
Horseback riding was one of them.
He came out after changing into his riding outfit and sat on the sofa in the lobby to wait.
He was looking down at his phone when the sound of approaching footsteps reached him.
He instinctively raised his head.
Ji Liuyue was wearing a sharply tailored white riding outfit. The fitted jacket cinched at the waist, and the slightly open collar revealed a stretch of her slender neck.
A dark brown belt was fastened around her waist, accentuating its delicate curve.
She wore a pair of fitted white riding breeches that hugged her long, straight legs, paired with a pair of black riding boots.
Her soft chestnut hair was tied into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck, with a few loose strands falling beside her temples.
She had an alluring yet spirited air about her—so stunning that it was impossible to look away.
“How do I look? This riding outfit suits me pretty well, doesn’t it?”
As she spoke, she turned gracefully in a circle in front of him, as though showing herself off.
Lu Nanxun’s fingers tightened slightly around his phone. His gaze lingered on her for about two seconds before he lowered his head and pretended to look at the screen.
“Mm. It looks pretty good.”
In the phone’s dark reflection, he stole another glance at her.
She looked strikingly beautiful and spirited.
It was completely different from her usual air.
Ji Liuyue was brimming with excitement. “Go, go, go! Let’s ride!”
The two of them headed toward the stables, one following the other, to choose their horses.
Lu Nanxun asked softly, “Have you ridden before?”
Ji Liuyue shook her head. “No. This is my first time.”
Her eyes gleamed brightly.
Her voice was so lively that she sounded like a child.
Her enthusiasm rubbed off on Lu Nanxun, and the corners of his lips lifted into a smile.
“For your first time, choose a gentle mare in a little while. You’ll be less likely to fall.”
Ji Liuyue turned to look at him. “From the way you say that, you sound like you’re quite good at riding.”
Lu Nanxun replied modestly, “I’m all right.”
The riding instructor selected a horse for each of them.
Lu Nanxun took the reins. With a swift, practiced movement, he stepped into the stirrup and leaped onto the horse, settling steadily in the saddle.
Ji Liuyue stood beside her short brown pony and reached out to stroke its neck.
Just as she was about to put her foot in the stirrup and climb on, the horse impatiently snorted, pawed lightly at the ground with its forehoof, and took half a step backward.
She froze in place.
She could neither climb on nor retreat.
Lu Nanxun, sitting on his horse some distance away, glanced at her.
Without saying a word, he quietly dismounted.
He led his horse back to her, handed the reins to the instructor, and then walked around behind her.
His voice was gentle yet reassuringly firm.
“Don’t rush. Make sure you have your footing. I’ll hold the saddle for you.”
