Peninsula: Starting with the nation's first love, the white moonlight

"Suzy? Why are you back all of a sudden?"

"Mom! You scared me to death!" Soo-ji said coquettishly.

She patted her chest guiltily, quickly changed into slippers, and took off her coat in one smooth motion.

"You silly girl, you didn't even tell your mother you were coming home. I thought a thief had broken in," Pei's mother complained as she walked out of the hallway, wearing a coat.

Suddenly, Pei's mother walked up to her, leaned in and sniffed, "Oh? You've been drinking, girl?"

Her face instantly darkened: "How many times have I told you, girls aren't allowed to drink secretly outside. Tell your mother honestly, who are you hanging out with in the middle of the night?"

"Mom..." Suzy quickly hugged Bae's mother's arm and shook it, using her killer move of acting cute, "I was with Ji-eun and Ji-yeon today. It's Christmas, so I was happy and just had a couple of sips of beer while playing games. I really didn't drink much."

Bae's mother stared at Xiuzhi suspiciously for a while, but seeing that she didn't seem drunk, she didn't press the matter further.

"By the way, it's snowing so heavily outside, how did you get back? Did your manager bring you home?"

Upon hearing this, Soo-ji immediately looked out the window.

Outside, snow was falling heavily, the wind was howling, and snowflakes were swirling everywhere, turning the view into a white expanse.

"I wonder if Li Luran managed to get on the bus back safely," Xiuzhi thought with some worry.

She hurriedly walked to the window, pulled back the curtains a little, and looked downstairs.

Under the dim streetlights, a person could be vaguely seen walking back and forth in the snow below. He would occasionally pick up his phone to check it, seemingly trying to make a call.

"Mom, I'm going out for a bit!"

Without saying a word, Suzy put her coat back on and rushed out of the house like a gust of wind.

Watching her daughter rush out in a flurry, Pei's mother sighed helplessly. Then, a question arose in her mind:

"What's wrong with this girl today? Why is she running around outside in the middle of the night?"

Downstairs at the apartment building.

Li Luran was truly bewildered in the snowstorm. The snow was so heavy, and with the strong wind, he could barely open his eyes.

"In this awful weather, it's impossible to get a taxi."

Li Luran was somewhat desperate. It was already close to midnight, and there were already few taxis available at this time. In addition, with this once-in-a-century blizzard, all ride-hailing apps were paralyzed.

"Li Luran?"

A panting female voice suddenly came from behind. Li Luran turned around and saw that Xiuzhi had run down again at some point.

Braving the wind and snow, she walked up to him and grabbed his arm: "Where's the driver? Has he already left?"

"Yeah." Li Luran gave a wry smile. "It's also my fault for getting off too slowly. The driver probably thought I wasn't coming back, but I can't really blame him."

"So what are you going to do now..." Soo-ji bit her lip. She looked up and asked tentatively, "How about you come to my place for the night?"

"How can this be allowed!" Li Luran instinctively refused.

How can a lone man and woman stay overnight?

Actually, the main thing is that he's a little afraid to be alone with Suzy now.

Bae Soo-ji didn't give him a chance to back down. She held Lee Lu-ran's hand tightly and dragged him towards the building.

"Look at you, your hands are almost frozen!"

Suzy put on a stern face. "If Ji-eun unnie knew I left you alone on the street freezing, she'd definitely call and yell at me tomorrow. Let's go, at least go upstairs and warm up. It wouldn't be good if you caught a cold."

And so, Li Luran was half-heartedly dragged back to the sixth floor by Pei Xiuzhi.

Just as Bae Suzy opened the door, she bumped right into her mother, who had been waiting for her.

When she saw her daughter walking in hand in hand with a strange man, her face instantly darkened.

"Sooji! What on earth is going on?!" Bae's mother demanded sternly.

"what!"

The two then belatedly realized that Bae Suzy had been pulling Lee Luran along the way, and their hands were still tightly clasped.

Suzy waved her hands frantically, "Um, Mom, let me explain first..."

After half an hour.

Li Luran and Bae Suzy sat side by side on the sofa in the living room, while Bae's mother sat on a single sofa opposite them, her eyes constantly scanning back and forth between the two of them.

Bae Suzy has explained what happened tonight to her several times, but she doesn't seem to completely believe her story.

"Mom! What do you want me to do to make you believe me?"

Suzy seemed to have given up entirely. Before their relationship had even started, her mother was interrogating her like a criminal.

If this scene scares Li Luran away, she'll have nowhere to cry.

"Young man," Pei's mother ignored her daughter's complaints and suddenly turned to Li Luran, asking, "Your name is Li Luran, right?"

Li Luran straightened up and nodded. "Yes, Auntie."

"Don't be nervous, let's just chat casually." A smile finally appeared on Pei's mother's face.

"Okay, Auntie, please feel free to ask any questions you may have."

Mrs. Pei nodded in satisfaction: "Sooji said you're an international student?"

"She's an international student at Seoul National University," Bae Suzy added proudly.

Before she could finish speaking, she was glared at fiercely by her mother. Xiuzhi shrank back in fright, and could only look innocently at her mother, obediently shutting her mouth.

"How did you and our Xiuzhi meet?" Bae's mother's tone softened slightly as she spoke to Li Luran, making it sound like they were having a casual chat.

Li Luran sat up straight and answered sincerely, "Auntie, it's like this. We are all good friends of Zhi'en. Today is Christmas, and we just happened to be having a meal together."

Since it was quite late, I was tasked with taking them both home. However, we encountered a blizzard downstairs and couldn't get a taxi. Seeing that I had nowhere to go, Soo-ji kindly offered me a ride upstairs to take shelter from the snow.

Li Luran's explanation was basically the same as what Xiuzhi had said earlier, and it was also well-organized and presented in a very proper manner. After listening, Pei's mother nodded slightly, seemingly finally believing what the two of them had to say.

"Since she's Xiuzhi's friend, let her stay at our house tonight." Bae's mother glanced out the window. "This snow isn't going to stop anytime soon, and it's really too late; it's not safe outside."

After saying that, Bae's mother glared at her daughter again: "Xiuzhi, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and tidy up the guest room!"

"Okay, Mom!"

Xiuzhi was overjoyed. She thought she would have to persuade her mother, but she didn't expect her mother to agree so readily.

So, like a happy rabbit, Xiuzhi quickly helped Li Luran make up the bed in the guest room.

Not only that, she also went to the kitchen to brew a bowl of ginger tea and personally served it to Li Luran to ward off the cold.

Pei's mother saw him running around busily, and for a moment she didn't know whether to be happy or worried.