They are in the music show, but I am a stranger to them

"Xiao Qi, there is a guest at home. It seems to be Mu's father... Maybe the video I sent out at noon today made him realize that you are living in my house."

"Mu's father?" Chen Qi was also slightly surprised, then he realized that he had forgotten to consider this point at the time.

But on second thought, if Mr. Ye really wanted to find them, the fact that they were living in Miao Meng's in-laws' house would be exposed sooner or later... After Chen Qi and Miao Meng looked at each other in harmony, he quickly calmed down and asked Miao Meng in a low voice:

"Well, Sister Miao Meng, how are you doing? Did Mr. Ruoye give you any trouble?"

"No... He just sat there without saying a word. I felt like I couldn't hold on any longer..."

Miao Meng lowered her voice and glanced at Mr. Ruoye, who was calm and composed in a suit. As a beauty blogger who had been in Tokyo for half a year, Miao Meng had never seen such a posture before. She was of course extremely uneasy.

"We'll be right back."

Without waiting for Miao Meng to urge him, Chen Qi hung up the phone in time.

At this moment, Chen Qi suddenly felt a small hand gently grasping his sleeve again. Mu, who had heard the voice on the phone, stood up in time and said to Chen Qi comfortingly:

"Don't worry, Qi, I can handle Dad's affairs."

"I can't let you face it alone, can I?" Chen Qi saw that Mu wanted to take all the responsibilities on his own, so he smiled and shook his head. He gently held Mu's petite hand and said word by word:

"Mu was brought from Ruoye's house. If Mr. Ruoye has any trouble, he has to ask me first."

"I won't let you face this alone, Mu. I promised you that I won't leave you alone."

"……Um."

In response to Chen Qi's promise, Mu belatedly revealed a faint smile on his face. He held Chen Qi's hand with a little force and nodded gently.

On the other hand, the four girls who ended the band seemed to be temporarily ignored. Facing the two people who had just denied their relationship as a couple, but whose actions and words seemed almost the same as those of a couple, they also showed completely different expressions.

The two main characters, Hongxia and Kita, surprisingly seemed to have no resistance to the topic of love and covered their eyes with their hands. However, Hongxia seemed to still peek through the gaps, while Kita was so embarrassed that he couldn't even raise his head.

Pochi-chan looked at Mu and Chen Qi's interactions with envy, and seemed to be imagining the possibility of a world line in which she would have met Chen Qi earlier.

However, when Liang saw Chen Qi and Mu's natural and unconcealed intimacy and trust, a knowing smile appeared on his face, and his expression relaxed unconsciously.

"Senior Chen Qi... he has really many close relationships with people. It seems that there are still many things about him that we don't know."

Soon, only after Chen Qihemu said goodbye to everyone and left [Fanxing] did Hongxia put down her hands that were covering her eyes. However, the intimate behavior of Chen Qihemu before was still vivid in her mind, making the face of this innocent girl blush.

"Senior, you are so bold! So aggressive!" Kita couldn't even come back to his senses and couldn't help but speak.

Liang: "——I think that the guy named Mu doesn't need us to worry about anything."

Liang also closed his eyes silently, put the bass back into the guitar bag, and said with a teasing tone:

"Besides, who Chen Qi is close to has nothing to do with us, and we don't have anyone who wants to date Chen Qi."

"If we have the time, we might as well focus on more important things."

Kita: "Hey? Ryo-senpai, what do you mean by more important things?"

Facing Kita's confusion, Hongxia and Pochi-chan also cast their eyes on Ryo at the same time, but after Ryo turned around, he put his hands in his pockets and said softly in a matter-of-fact tone:

"Of course, before our live performance with Chen Qi begins, we're going to meet Chen Qi's sister's band."

"Don't forget, strictly speaking, Chen Qi's performance is for them. If the feedback from Chen Qi's performance is not good enough, and the people who should be moved are not moved, then wouldn't Chen Qi's efforts be wasted?"

"After all, Senior Chen Qi is now temporarily considered a member of our band, right? If we ask them what they did to Chen Qi, it will be helpful for us to better coordinate with Chen Qi's rhythm in the future, right?"

However, as soon as Ryo finished speaking with a smile on his face, Hongxia, Kita and Pochi-chan all turned serious. Obviously, they all heard the hidden meaning of Ryo's words.

It is obvious that Liang is not going there with a friendly attitude. This is not a communication, but rather a declaration of war?

Liang, what are you thinking about? For a moment, Hong Xia looked at Liang, who had been particularly concerned about Senior Chen Qi's affairs during this period, and couldn't help feeling a little strange... She hadn't seen Liang so excited about something for a long time.

Moreover, only Ryo was the one who called his senior by his first name when the band ended...

Could it be that Liang, when he was chatting alone with Senior Chen Qi at SPACE last time, said to Senior Chen Qi...

No, no, no, this possibility is too low, right? Although Hong Xia wanted to say this, she couldn't help but start to worry about the matter between her unusual friend and Chen Qi.

……

"Please come in, Mr. Chen Qi, Miss, the master of the family is waiting for you inside."

On the other hand, Chen Qi and Mu also rushed back to Miao Meng's home as soon as possible, but found that there were several bodyguards in suits in the corridor. The moment Chen Qi and Mu stepped into the corridor, they actually had no way back.

When Chen Qi and Mu walked into Miao Meng's home, they quickly noticed Miao Meng's father who was standing there trembling with fear, and Mr. Ruoye who was sitting at the dining table and had just opened his eyes.

The moment Mr. Ruoye opened his eyes, he quickly stared at the hands of Chen Qi and Mu, and while a smile appeared in his heart, he said to Chen Qi and Miao Meng calmly:

"Mr. Chen Qi, Ms. Miao Meng, could you please step aside for a moment? My daughter and I have some private matters to discuss."

"——Mr. Ruoye, if you want to blame Mu for running away from home, then you should know that I was the mastermind behind this and I instigated Mu to do it."

However, Mr. Ruoye's words not only failed to make Chen Qi avoid it, but made Chen Qi subconsciously tighten his grip on Mu's hand. He slightly leaned sideways to block in front of Mu, staring directly at Mr. Ruoye in front of him, and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner:

"If I have anything to say, you can tell me directly. Don't blame your daughter. She is innocent—"

"Who said I blame my daughter?"

However, before Chen Qi could finish his words, Mr. Ruoye's calm face finally revealed a smile when he saw Chen Qi's actions to protect Mu, and the originally solemn atmosphere was quickly broken.

"Of course, it may seem that way to you, but I really just want to have a peaceful chat about the reasons why she ran away from home. These are private conversations between me as a father and my daughter, so I hope you won't interrupt."

"As for the punishment... Don't worry. I dare not say anything else, but I have been Mu's father for fifteen years since she was born. I have never beaten or scolded her, or physically punished her. What cruel thing could I do to my daughter? Don't worry."

"...Qi, Dad, you are right."

After a brief silence, Mu poked his head out from behind Chen Qi, raised his head slightly, met Chen Qi's gaze and said:

"Dad won't do anything to me. I just need to talk to him for a while. Don't worry about me."

"Mu..." Chen Qi was still a little hesitant. Looking at Chen Qi who was worried about his safety, Mu couldn't help but smile slightly and said softly:

"Don't worry, Qi. I know Qi won't abandon me. If I'm in danger, I'll call Qi."

Chen Qi: “…Okay.”

And finally, under Mr. Ruoye's gaze, whose smile he could hardly conceal, Chen Qi finally let go of Hemu's hand and temporarily left the rental house with Miao Meng.

As the door closed and he confirmed that there was no third person around, Mr. Ruoye turned to his daughter and asked without beating around the bush:

"Mu, tell dad honestly, what do you feel about Chen Qi?"

Chapter 84: Mu's father's compromise, where will Chen Qi and Mu live next?

Of course, Chen Qi and Miao Mengqin, who had just walked out of the room, would not know about the conversation between Mu and her father. The next second after the two of them walked out of the room, Chen Qi heard a long breathing sound from beside him, and a faint fragrance blowing towards him...

"Sister Miao Meng?" Chen Qi was startled by Miao Mengqin who suddenly fell towards him, but he still subconsciously caught Miao Mengqin's soft body and helped her stabilize herself.

Fortunately, Miao Meng didn't really collapse from exhaustion. She was just in a trance after the huge mental pressure was finally relieved. However, Miao Meng, who was leaning on Chen Qi's shoulder, didn't seem to want to stand up. Instead, her tone was filled with fear as if she had survived a disaster. She said to Chen Qi:

"I was scared to death... Xiaoqi, you took Xiaomu out of Ruoye's house right under this person's nose?"

"How did you do it... Don't you know that when Patriarch Ye came to my house, even if he did nothing, I, your sister Miao Meng, would be so scared that I dared not speak? These were simply the most difficult hours of my life."

"Xiao Qi, you actually dared to take the daughter of the Ruoye family away in front of him. Miao Mengqin, should I say that you are really brave... or is Xiao Mu really that important to you?"

Although Miao Meng looked like an adult fashionable woman, she was only one year older than Chen Qi. She had been in Tokyo for less than half a year, so how could she have seen such a big scene? Mr. Ruoye, a true head of the family, was indeed a huge monster to the ordinary Miao Meng.

Facing Miao Meng, who was leaning on his arm with her body still trembling a little, Chen Qi couldn't help but fall silent.

He knew very well that the source of the depression that Miao Meng had experienced in the past few hours came from himself. If he had not brought Mu to Miao Meng, Miao Meng would not have suffered this.

"I'm sorry... Sister Meow Meng."

Faced with the trembling Miao Meng, Chen Qi did not resist Miao Meng's behavior of seeking a sense of security from him. Instead, he instinctively hoped to do something to comfort this sister who had suffered for him.

But in the end, Chen Qi stopped his thoughts abruptly under the gaze of the bodyguards standing by.

However, facing the frightened Miao Meng in his arms, it also gave Chen Qi some warnings...

Although he didn't know what Mr. Ruoye in the house would talk about with Mu, the father probably didn't want him to keep Mu by his side.

Even if he and Mu argued with reason and barely convinced Mr. Ruoye, Mr. Ruoye would probably not be willing to let Mu stay with him.

Instead, he would more likely bring a group of bodyguards to protect Mu, just like he did today. At least, he would make sure that Mu is within his sight.

"It seems that if I continue to live with Miao Meng, it will only affect Sister Miao Meng's life... She probably doesn't want to be watched by Mr. Ruoye's family all the time, right?"

"So, do we have to find another place to live?"

Chen Qi, who had just found a temporary shelter not long ago, had to start thinking about his next residence... Even more, if Mu was forcibly taken back to the Ruoye family by Mr. Ruoye, what should he do?

……

"...No, Dad, Qi and I are not in that kind of relationship."

However, compared to Chen Qi who was thinking about his next move outside the house, the atmosphere of the conversation between Mu and Mr. Ruoye inside the house was unexpectedly relaxed - especially after Mr. Ruoye asked his daughter that key question.

Mu originally thought that her father was here to force her to go home, but when her father asked her, "What are your feelings for Chen Qi?", Mu's face showed obvious hesitation.

But in the end, Mu denied his father's guess, and just silently turned his eyes away, but Mr. Ruoye still saw it all.

"Why? Mu? Do you not want to, or do you not dare?" Mr. Ruoye looked at his timid daughter, and a helpless look flashed in his eyes, but he did not intend to give up. Instead, he asked inquiringly:

"Or are you worried about the girl who was kicked out of the Toyokawa family? Just because she used to have a close relationship with that boy? He even took part in taking care of the deceased Mrs. Toyokawa. Do you think you can't win?"

As he spoke, Mr. Ruoye also had a more serious look on his face. He said solemnly to Mu, who bowed his head in silence:

"Mu, let me remind you again that you are the eldest daughter of the Wakaba family. Although our family has only risen to prominence with your mother and me, we are not so taboo as to even be afraid of a girl who was kicked out of the Toyokawa family."

But soon, Mr. Ruoye seemed to have thought of another possibility. After narrowing his eyes slightly, his tone became more teasing, and he asked softly:

"Or is it because you and Xiangzi are childhood sweethearts? So you don't want to steal someone else's love?"

"Don't tell me that you dared to follow Chen Qi and escape from Ruoye's house. In your heart, you still think that he and the girl from Fengchuan's family are a good match, and you just want to be a supporting role to set off the two of them."

Mu: “…No.”

As Mr. Wakaba expected, as soon as he mentioned Toyokawa Shoko, his silent daughter quickly responded. When Mu raised her little head again, Mr. Wakaba couldn't help but smile.

How could Mr. Ruoye not know about what happened between Xiangzi and Chen Qi? Although he did not know some details, such as the reason why Xiangzi and her father were kicked out of the house, he still knew that his daughter witnessed him and Xiangzi's farewell in the heavy rain that day.

He just wanted to inspire his daughter and see what her attitude was towards her childhood sweetheart.

Now it seems that everything is as he expected.

As a daughter who trusted Chen Qi to the point of believing that he could rescue her from Ruoye's house on his own, no matter how indifferent she was, it was impossible for her to have the mentality of "returning the property to its original owner" towards Xiangzi, who rejected the person she trusted.

"Then, why is that?" Mr. Ruoye was a little curious. His daughter was not afraid of Xiangzi and was brave enough to rebel against the family. So why didn't Mu want to take the relationship with Chen Qi to the next level?

However, facing his father's questioning, Ruoye Mu fell into a long silence. After an unknown amount of time, a trace of struggle finally emerged on his face. He then said softly in a very hesitant and uncertain tone:

"I...it's not that I don't want to, nor am I afraid to approach him."

"I just don't know how to love someone."

Mr. Ruoye: “…”

However, facing Mu Na's hesitation, which was probably the first time he spoke his true feelings to him as a father, Mr. Ruoye fell into a long silence. Finally, he turned all his emotions into a long sigh.

Although the father and daughter haven't had a heart-to-heart talk like today for a long time due to various reasons since Mu's biological mother passed away, Mr. Ruoye still understood the meaning of the words of his daughter, who spoke little but always hit the nail on the head.

Mu, she has been lonely for too long...Perhaps since the day her biological mother left her, she has lost the feeling of being "loved".

However, the loneliness and isolation for so many years have completely deprived Mu of all the emotions that a human being should have.

If Xiangzi and Chen Qi had not accidentally entered her world one after another and allowed her to taste the feeling of being loved again, Mu might have completely become a puppet who obeyed her orders.

After all, this is still my fault as a father...

He wanted so badly to give his only child a good life, to live up to his deceased wife and everything he had lost. But when he finally stabilized his career and made his child's future smooth, he discovered that he had already lost everything that he should not have lost.

Fortunately, he still has a chance to redeem the child...but the person who can redeem his beloved child is not him, but another person.

"Then, Mu, do you think that if you continue to follow him, you will understand how to love someone?"

"I don't know..." Mu also shook his head, his face showing some distress.

"I didn't have this opportunity before. I didn't have to enjoy his love without any worries."

Although Mu and Chen Qi had a chance to be alone together half a year ago, Mu was still cautious in all his actions during that period...

Although Mu was already dissatisfied with Xiangzi and others at that time, she had not yet broken up with them. Therefore, although she enjoyed Qi's care, she did not dare to cross the line with Chen Qi. She knew that Chen Qi still had many things to worry about.

But now, Mu didn't want to worry about all this anymore. Now that she was free again, facing Chen Qi who was so close to her, she found that she had no idea where to start.

After all, this is the first time that this doll girl wants to "love" someone. Mu, who has only felt the feeling of being "loved" from Chen Qi before, also has many confusions.

Therefore, even though Mu has become the most important person in Chen Qi's eyes for a short time, she still dares not make any move... She is afraid that her rash actions will make her, like Deng and Xiangzi, hurt his heart and thus lose him.

Because she was afraid of losing him and hurting him, Mu would rather do nothing and make no mistakes, and just stay by his side as his last resort.