On a Stormy Night, the Campus Belle Knocked on My Door Seeking Shelter
Chapter 30: This is Clearly an Issue of Looks

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: This is Clearly an Issue of Looks

"I’ve found something even more like cotton candy now." As Chen Mo lowered his head, the tip of his nose grazed the jasmine scent of her hair, and he spoke with a teasing smile by her ear.

"What is it?" Su Yuqing asked curiously, turning her head to look at Chen Mo.

But what she saw was the young man’s handsome face, just inches away.

"It’s you," Chen Mo replied with a smile, gently releasing Su Yuqing and sitting down on the grass beside her.

"Why?" Su Yuqing tilted her head slightly, looking at Chen Mo with a curious expression.

"Because your smile is as soft and sweet as cotton candy," Chen Mo teased. After he said it, he silently cursed himself. ’I was thinking about her body but said it was her smile. What a scumbag!’

But it seemed scumbag lines were indeed very effective on a girl in love.

Su Yuqing’s pretty face flushed red in an instant. "You’re awful~"

She shot a playful glare at Chen Mo for teasing her and turned her head away. But from her profile, Chen Mo could clearly see the corners of her mouth turned up in a slight smile.

’Her smile really is soft and sweet.’

He lay quietly on the grass, watching the girl in front of him fly her kite with a look of pure happiness.

All those years of silently enduring hardship suddenly felt weightless, as if they had transformed into the very currents lifting the kite into the sky.

And the girl, who watched the boy lying on the grass and chewing a foxtail weed from the corner of her eye, felt the exact same way.

DING-A-LING, DING-A-LING—!

The clanging of a copper ladle against an iron bucket shattered the spellbinding moment as an old man selling malt candy pushed his cart past.

"I’ll take a piece of malt candy," Chen Mo said, immediately jumping up from the grass.

Chen Mo bought an amber-colored piece of sugar art. The moment he broke it, it stretched into crystalline threads.

"A certain someone was so afraid of cavities when we were little that she refused to eat this no matter what. Want to try some now?" He smiled, handing her the half shaped like a little rabbit. "Be careful, it’ll stick to your teeth."

The syrup coated Su Yuqing’s lips in a honey-colored glaze. In her reverie, it felt as though she had spent an entire summer vacation playing with Chen Mo, when in reality, it had only been a short fifteen days.

The two of them played until noon before they finally prepared to leave.

Just as they were about to go, they saw a little girl crying by herself in a park pavilion.

The two exchanged a look. Just as they were about to go over and ask what was wrong, they saw a little boy walk in and squat down in front of the little girl.

Before long, the little girl had wiped away her tears and started to smile. The Little Boy cheerfully took her hand, and they ran out of the pavilion together.

They exchanged a smile, as if seeing a reflection of their younger selves.

Su Yuqing realized that the sunlight of this one morning was enough to banish the gloom she had accumulated over a lifetime.

’It’s a good thing I didn’t take that step back then!’

"There’s a really good beef noodle shop near my grandparents’ house. Let’s eat lunch there," Chen Mo said with a smile.

’Since we’re back in the old part of town, I should stop by and see my grandparents.’

"Grandparents?" Su Yuqing suddenly grew a little nervous.

’What if we happen to run into Chen Mo’s grandparents? If we do, what should I even say?’

In an instant, her mind started racing with possibilities.

She followed dazedly behind Chen Mo all the way to the noodle shop...

"What are you thinking about?"

Chen Mo asked with a smile after they were seated.

"Nothing." Su Yuqing finally snapped out of it and took a look at her surroundings.

An old-fashioned ceiling fan spun lazily from the greasy ceiling, and the glass windows of the street-side noodle shop were fogged with steam.

The dining table was wooden and stained with grease. Just as Su Yuqing finished wiping down the worn surface with a napkin, a waiter squeezed through the narrow aisle, holding two bowls of noodles, and placed them in front of them.

Su Yuqing looked at Chen Mo across the table, the rising steam casting a soft halo around his brow.

"The boss’s wife heard you used to come here a lot as a kid, so she specially added a soft-boiled egg for you," the waiter said to Chen Mo with a smile.

He then turned to look at the noodle bowl in front of Su Yuqing and said, "She said it’s a welcome gift for you, kiddo. She gave your pretty girlfriend an extra egg and a few more slices of beef."

"Aunt Wang, thanks so much! Won’t you lose money doing this?" Chen Mo called out with a smile to a slightly plump, middle-aged woman bustling about at the front of the shop.

"Lose money? What’s there to lose? If it’s not enough to eat, just tell Auntie, and I’ll add more noodles for free."

"Thanks, Aunt Wang."

After exchanging greetings with a smile, Chen Mo gently blew on the rim of his bowl, pretending he was about to drink the soup.

Just as Su Yuqing uncovered the soft-boiled egg from beneath her noodles and pierced the golden membrane of the yolk with the tip of her chopsticks, Chen Mo suddenly snatched two of the extra slices of beef from her bowl. "My reputation earned these, so I get a share."

Amidst the swirling steam from the soup, he grinned slyly as he chewed the stolen beef.

Seeing Chen Mo act so childishly, what could Su Yuqing do but smile indulgently?

The shop might have looked small and grimy, but the food and utensils were actually handled very cleanly. The tables and chairs were simply old, worn to a smooth patina from years of use.

Besides, the food was delicious. Su Yuqing’s eyes lit up after just a few bites.

They say good food can make people happy, and it was certainly true. Seeing Su Yuqing’s spirits visibly lift, Chen Mo felt even happier than if he’d eaten the delicious food himself.

He ate the beef noodles from his own bowl while admiring the joyful expression on Su Yuqing’s face as she savored her meal.

’The noodles tasted the same as always, but this bowl today was far more delicious than ever before.’

’It was mainly because in addition to the delicious food, there was an even more appetizing sight right beside him.’

After they had happily finished their lunch, Chen Mo finally smiled at Su Yuqing and said, "Since we’re already here, let’s stop by my grandparents’ house for a bit before we head back. It’s been a while since I’ve come to see them."

"Oh, so you’re taking your girlfriend to see your grandparents, Momo! With such a wonderful future granddaughter-in-law, the old couple will be overjoyed to see her," Aunt Wang said with a chuckle as she cleared their bowls. "I wonder when that rascal of mine will be as capable as you. He’s already in college and still hasn’t dated a single girl."

"Come on, Brother Zhao is a fine-looking young man. You’re worried about that for him? I bet he’s just hiding it from you," Chen Mo bantered back with a laugh.

"I hope you’re right!" Aunt Wang laughed, her gaze falling on Su Yuqing again. The more she looked, the more pleased she was.

After the two had walked away, she couldn’t help but say to the employee beside her, "That kid used to be so mischievous, but he was also very considerate. He saw I was busy, and even though he was only this tall back then, he wanted to come and help me."

"Time flies, doesn’t it? In the blink of an eye, he’s a handsome young man, and he’s even found such a beautiful girlfriend. It’s wonderful. You should learn a thing or two from him, kiddo. Girls prefer boys who are gentle and caring."

Hearing the owner’s words, the employee next to her glanced at his reflection in a mirror on the wall. Staring at his own goblin-like face, he couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. ’This isn’t about being gentle. This is clearly an issue of looks.’

Listening to Chen Mo expertly chat about neighborhood gossip with the familiar locals, Su Yuqing suddenly realized that this was what it meant for life to be filled with the warmth of human connection. That even in the midst of the mundane, people could smile with such simple joy and happiness.