Putting down her chopsticks, Mu Lingshan grabbed a tissue and wiped the corner of her mouth, giving Chu Ge a slightly accelerated heartbeat smile, "I'm about done too."

Although Mu Lingshan's demeanor was not overt, Chu Ge nonetheless noticed something in her slightly flushed cheeks, and couldn't help but feel a stirring in his heart.

From the current atmosphere, if he wanted to take Mu Lingshan back to the hotel, there wouldn't be any problem. The question was... to take or not to take?

Chu Ge thought for a moment, soon arriving at an answer in his heart, glanced over at Huang Yourong on the other side, then turned back to Mu Lingshan with a smile, "That's perfect, your sister Huang seems to be almost done eating too."

"Hmm?" Mu Lingshan was slightly stunned. What did Chu Ge mean by that?

Meeting Mu Lingshan's somewhat bewildered gaze, Chu Ge smiled again, "During this study period, the two of you should be staying together, right?"

Mu Lingshan nodded, though she had a rough idea of Chu Ge's meaning, she still silently thought to herself, "No way?"

"So let's do it this way, after she's done eating, you two can leave together. I'll go settle the bill, and then head back to rest."

Under Mu Lingshan's visibly flabbergasted gaze, Chu Ge grinned wide, confirming her silent suspicions, giving her the answer she had half-doubted: "Yes."

It's not that Chu Ge didn't understand the subtleties, nor that he felt nothing for Mu Lingshan. It's just that he couldn't predict what the situation would be like tomorrow; emotionally and logically, he should rest well.

More importantly, the relationship between Mu Lingshan and him was quite strange. He wasn't sure if continuing would be right or wrong.

Seeing Chu Ge really get up and head towards the bar, Mu Lingshan felt both a bit disappointed and annoyed. Was he really just going to leave like that?

Did she have no appeal to him? Clearly, if he just said a word, she would go with him! Couldn't he take the initiative for once? Should she, as a girl, say something first in situations like this?

"Bastard! Big bastard!"

Watching Chu Ge's increasingly distant back, Mu Lingshan felt incredibly frustrated. She subconsciously frowned, staring straight at his back, hoping he would turn around and say something more to her — anything at all would do.

But unfortunately, Chu Ge's steps didn't say a word about staying or turning around; he left without hesitation. No matter how uncomfortable she felt, she could only watch him walk further and further away.

In fact, Chu Ge did have hesitations, but given Mu Lingshan's current mood, she couldn't see it at all.

Seeing that Chu Ge was about to reach the bar, Mu Lingshan frowned even more tightly. Just then, she felt someone pat her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw Huang Yourong standing beside her.

"Shanshan, what's wrong? You two didn't quarrel again, did you?"

Mu Lingshan forced a smile, "No, no."

"Ha, you say 'no'? The words 'aggrieved' are written all over your face. Let's go, Sister Huang will take you to find him."

Huang Yourong chuckled, grabbing Mu Lingshan's arm, and headed towards the bar.

At first, Mu Lingshan didn't want to move out of spite, but being so pulled by Huang Yourong, she sighed quietly, symbolically struggled a bit, then followed Huang Yourong's lead.

At the bar, Chu Ge had just finished settling the bill for their table and Huang Yourong's table. Although he didn't think highly of the likes of Chang Xin, and had no fondness for Huang Yourong, the saying goes: "It's hard to speak with a mouth full." If a meal could stop Huang Yourong from gossiping among Mu Lingshan's party school classmates, it would be worth it.

"Oh, Mr. Chu, you even paid for my table? That's not right at all — let me settle it. Agencies can reimburse it as long as there's an invoice."

As Huang Yourong spoke, she took out her wallet from her bag, pulled out a few hundred yuan, and handed it to Chu Ge.

"No need, no need for such formality."

"Oh, come on, just take it."

Huang Yourong pretended to argue with Chu Ge over it, but she obviously had no intention of giving up the chance to take advantage — such a rightful opportunity to get something from Chu Ge was not to be missed.

Plus, with Mu Lingshan right next to them, she felt even more smug and thrilled.

In the end, Chu Ge didn't take Huang Yourong's money, and he gave her the invoice as well. A few hundred yuan might not be much, but it was, at least, a token gesture.

Outside the restaurant, Chu Ge initially intended to leave like that, but Huang Yourong had no intention of letting him go easily.

"Little Chu, aren't you planning to walk us out? You're being quite un-gentlemanly, you know?"

Chu Ge rolled his eyes internally, thinking to himself, "We're not that close, are we? And you say 'Little Chu' so casually?"

Though he was speechless, since Huang Yourong had spoken, he couldn't just ignore her. He touched his nose and smiled, "I'm actually a bit shy. I get nervous around unfamiliar beauties. If I were to give you both a ride, I'd probably be up all night, unable to sleep."

Hearing Chu Ge say this, Mu Lingshan almost couldn't hold back her laughter. This guy, shy? It's a wonder he could even say that.

Hmm... In a way, this jerk wasn't wrong. Being extremely shy could also mean having no shame at all.

Thinking this, Mu Lingshan found herself spacing out again.

Language is really peculiar. Calling someone "thick-skinned" versus "shameless" seems to have... not much of a difference in meaning, at least she couldn't understand what exactly the difference was, but they sound completely different.

Then, she thought of the theory Chu Ge had told her about "the grass by the nest."

This guy... what did he used to do? How does he know so much? Clearly, he's an outsider, yet he understands the inner workings of this circle better than she does as an insider?

The same words, when heard by Huang Yourong, made her giggle, "Little Chu, if you don't give me a ride, that's one thing, but if you don't take Shanshan home, that's unjustifiable. It's late at night, aren't you afraid something might happen to Shanshan?"

Chu Ge glanced at Mu Lingshan. Feeling his gaze, Mu Lingshan immediately turned her face away. Though she was eagerly anticipating Chu Ge's response, her face was puffed up with anger.

Seeing Mu Lingshan's reaction, Chu Ge felt both apologetic and amused, but his face showed a serious, slight surprise, "Hmm? Something might happen?"

This time, not just Mu Lingshan, but even Huang Yourong rolled her eyes at Chu Ge, half-annoyed, half-amused, and chided, "Of course, girls walking alone at night is dangerous. What if some bad guy wants to rob or assault her?"

Chu Ge laughed heartily, "Rob her? I'd only mourn for the robber, running into her like that is just asking for it! Plus... it would be guaranteed to be a death with no grave!"

As Chu Ge finished speaking, Huang Yourong's mouth twitched a couple of times, utterly speechless. This guy, he really is something else...

Mu Lingshan clenched her fists tightly. Chu Ge's words were completely opposite to what she had hoped to hear, and her growing frustration was becoming unbearable. Finally, she couldn't hold back anymore and punched towards Chu Ge, "You bastard, why don't you go die!"

Chu Ge dodged aside to avoid the punch and grinned, "Okay, I'll go then."

Mu Lingshan kicked at him again, "Then hurry up and go! Go die, die, die!"

"Hey, hey, are you seriously trying to kill me for fun? Fine, I can't mess with you, but can't I at least avoid you?"

Evading Mu Lingshan's kick, Chu Ge awkwardly muttered, and as he saw Mu Lingshan preparing another kick, he quickly turned and fled in a panic.

He originally intended to use this joke as an excuse to bolt, so if not now, when?

After running a few steps, Chu Ge still felt that even as a joke, it was a bit much for a Tiger Girl like Mu Lingshan. After all, she was still a woman.

After wrestling with himself for a few seconds, Chu Ge couldn't help but turn back to see Mu Lingshan standing there, fists tightly clenched, her eyes slightly red.

"Sigh..."

Chu Ge silently sighed. He felt a bit uncomfortable, but despite that, he didn't stop walking. He waved back at Mu Lingshan and soon disappeared into the depths of the night.

Mu Lingshan stared unblinkingly at Chu Ge's retreating figure. Suddenly, her pupils shrank sharply, the anger on her face instantly turning to amazement. Chu Ge's silhouette overlapped once more with that of the mysterious expert who had twice saved her life, this time more completely than ever before.

Mu Lingshan couldn't quite say why, but she just had a strong gut feeling.

Imagining Chu Ge's teasing just now, the real face behind what seemed to be an inscrutable mask.

Mu Lingshan's fists gradually relaxed, her arms drooped weakly, and she gazed in the direction where Chu Ge vanished, eyes full of confusion.

Was it him? Was it really him or not?

Mu Lingshan originally thought that finding the mysterious expert wasn't so important anymore. Her initial admiration was more driven by curiosity, gratitude, and respect, while her feelings for Chu Ge, which had grown subtly and endlessly complicated, were true emotions.

But at this moment, her thoughts drifted back to that night, her mind filled entirely with that silhouette.

"Shanshan? Shanshan, are you okay?"

Huang Yourong called out to Mu Lingshan several times and patted her on the shoulder, finally bringing her back to her senses. She sighed wearily and shook her head, "It's nothing, I'm just a bit tired. Let that bastard go die, let's go back and have some drinks."

Chu Ge returned to the hotel. Even after showering and lying in bed, he tossed and turned, his mind still replaying Mu Lingshan's reddened eyes as he left.

With some irritation, he rubbed his forehead and finally couldn't help but send a text message to Mu Lingshan.

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