After seeing Mo Xuan off, Luo Qi sat on the sofa and glanced towards the staircase landing, snorting, "Alright, you can come out now?"
Ye Mu walked out with a cheeky grin, sidling up to Luo Qi. "How did you know I was behind you?"
Luo Qi pushed Ye Mu's face away. "Wasn't that intentional? I don't believe you can't hide properly, you deliberately left your hem exposed."
Ye Mu feigned ignorance and asked about something else. "Why did Mo Xuan leave? I just asked the chef to make him something good to eat."
Luo Qi, still annoyed about Mo Xuan seeing the marks on his neck, naturally didn't have a good attitude towards Ye Mu.
"Weren't you happy that Mo Xuan wasn't eating here?"
Ye Mu blinked his eyes, putting on a righteous front. "How could I be? I wish Mo Xuan would stay for two more days."
Luo Qi eyed him askance. "Then I'll contact Mo Xuan right now and have him come back immediately."
Ye Mu's smile vanished. "That's not necessary."
Luo Qi rolled his eyes and leaned against Ye Mu, asking curiously, "For so many years, I've never understood why you and Mo Xuan always get along so poorly."
Ye Mu fiddled with Luo Qi's fingers. Luo Qi's fingers were slender and well-proportioned, with distinct knuckles but not overly thin. Ye Mu enjoyed playing with them when he had nothing else to do.
He pursed his lips and leaned closer to Luo Qi's ear. "I always thought Mo Xuan liked you."
Luo Qi's eyes widened. "Why would you think that?"
Ye Mu's gaze flickered. Now that he was with Luo Qi, telling him this felt like badmouthing Mo Xuan.
He cleared his throat. "It's just that Mo Xuan always followed you around like a little shadow, spending the whole day doting on you. You don't know, but when we were in kindergarten, he provoked me many times behind your back, and then pretended I was bullying him when you were around. It was so annoying."
This seemed to open Ye Mu's floodgates, and he began enumerating Mo Xuan's annoying childhood behaviors, from snatching cookies Luo Qi gave him to faking injuries and complaining to Luo Qi that Ye Mu had hit him.
Luo Qi found it both amusing and exasperating. He remembered the incident, though the details were hazy. It seemed Mo Xuan had fallen, but he hadn't actually blamed Ye Mu. However, Ye Mu had been standing nearby and was covered in mud, just like Mo Xuan, so he had naturally assumed Ye Mu had bullied him. Ye Mu had looked quite indignant at the time, but he hadn't really lectured Ye Mu. He had just told them both to take a step back, and neither of them got dessert that night.
Ye Mu's expression remained indignant, clearly still feeling wronged when he thought about it. After venting for a while, he moved on to other things. Luo Qi, initially engaged, gradually grew sleepy. Many of the events weren't even in Luo Qi's memory, and he wondered how Ye Mu could recall them so clearly.
Luo Qi yawned, looking at Ye Mu's incessant chatter, which reminded him of a… nagging spouse. Luo Qi chuckled at the thought, laughing a couple of times, only to have Ye Mu pinch his cheeks into a pout.
"I'm already this miserable, and you dare to laugh at me? Hmm?"
Luo Qi's eyes sparkled with amusement. Once he adopted the persona of Ye Mu being a nagging spouse, he immediately felt the responsibility of being the head of the household. So, he didn't get angry about his cheeks being pinched. He ruffled Ye Mu's hair and mumbled, "Good boy."
Ye Mu: "???"
He released Luo Qi's face and asked indignantly, "Don't you understand at all? I've been talking for so long."
Luo Qi continued to smile. "You're just imagining things. Mo Xuan never meant anything like that."
Ye Mu pouted. "Only a fool like you would think that. His intentions towards you back then were so obvious."
Luo Qi raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you at ease now?"
Ye Mu hissed, "It's not that I'm at ease, it's just that now that you're with someone like me, you definitely wouldn't be interested in Mo Xuan anymore."
Luo Qi nudged him with his elbow. "Don't talk nonsense."
Ye Mu rubbed his chest, too embarrassed to admit he had overthought things.
As the wedding day drew closer, a minor event occurred: Nina returned. Ever since Luo Qi discovered she wasn't attending classes properly, she had been ordered to focus on her studies. She only got a short break these past few days. Upon her return, she heard the dreadful news that her beloved Luo Luo brother was about to get married. With red eyes, she immediately latched onto Luo Qi's leg.
At first, Luo Qi tried to get Nina to stand up, but after three days, he got used to it. Nina acted like she was clocking in and out of work, clinging to Luo Qi's leg after breakfast and only letting go before dinner. Luo Qi treated her like a pendant hanging from his leg.
Nina wiped her face and pleaded with Luo Qi, her arms wrapped around him. "Luo Luo brother! Wait for me. I'll marry you, okay? Don't marry that human!"
Ye Mu stood with his arms crossed, his expression dark. There were only two reasons he could tolerate this brat clinging to Luo Qi. One was that Nina was still underage, and assaulting a minor on the insect planet was a serious legal offense. The other was that Luo Qi compensated him every night.
Luo Qi sighed and sat on the sofa, looking at Nina who was leaning against his leg. "Nina, you're several years younger than me."
Nina's eyes sparkled. "I don't mind."
Veins throbbed on Luo Qi's forehead. "I do mind, and I like boys."
Nina glanced at herself. "I can become a boy."
Luo Qi's mouth twitched. "That's not necessary."
Ye Mu couldn't watch any longer. If he let this brat continue, who knew what outrageous things she would say. He walked over, pulled Nina off the ground, and as she eyed him defensively, he leaned close to her ear and whispered something.
Nina's expression changed. She took two steps back and fled as if escaping.
Luo Qi blinked his eyes and asked curiously, "What did you say to her?"
Ye Mu smiled mysteriously. "I told her that if she kept making a fuss, I'd have her teacher post her exam report card on the school bulletin board next time."
Luo Qi: "..."
Ye Mu huffed, subtly undermining his love rival. "See? In her heart, face is more important. She's just having a fleeting whim, she doesn't really like you."
Luo Qi looked at him. Ye Mu added, "Even if she does, it's not as much as I like you."
Luo Qi said helplessly, "She's still a child."
Ye Mu lowered his gaze to look at Luo Qi. "Luo Luo, we were children once too. And we'll spend our lives together."
Luo Qi was taken aback, then smiled after a moment. "Yes, we'll be together forever, for a lifetime."