We moved to Golden Courtyard

Sakura, sitting in the front row, suddenly felt a bit tired—it seemed like she wasn't out running errands, but rather taking care of a baby…

After a moment of silence, Xu Qi glanced at Theresa, who seemed to still be sitting there sulking. After thinking for a moment, he moved closer.

Theresa certainly noticed.

She frowned and looked at Xu Qi, whispering, "What?"

Xu Qi pulled out a small yellow Houmu doll from somewhere and waved it in front of Theresa. Theresa's eyes widened slightly as she asked.

"Where did it come from?"

"I saw it in the mall and bought it. Do you like it?"

"I...I don't like it!" Theresa turned her face away in a huff, seemingly not wanting to look at Xu Qi.

"Don't you like it?" Xu Qi raised an eyebrow. "Then it seems I'll have to throw it away."

"Ugh!" Theresa turned around abruptly. "Why throw it away?"

"You don't like it? Then why should I keep it?"

"There's always...there's always someone who likes it..."

Hearing the little girl's muttered words, Xu Qi smiled knowingly, leaned a little closer, and whispered, "Then how about I give him to Gretchen?"

If you give it to Gretchen, it will still end up in Theresa's hands that night.

Her face flushed, she sat up straight again and said, "It's...it's none of my business who you give it to..."

Although his words were still firm, his tone had softened considerably.

Xu Qi said softly, "Let's make up, okay? Theresa, stop being so stubborn."

Theresa pursed her lips and grumbled, "Who's being difficult... Don't bully me anymore, understand?"

"Okay, okay, I understand, Theresa."

"Humph!"

With a slightly awkward expression, Theresa reached out her hand. Xu Qi immediately reacted and very tactfully handed over the Houmu doll.

Theresa received the doll and couldn't help but smile, her eyes crinkling with joy.

"hey-hey……"

Aren't they still children?

Even when you're working, you're still a child...

Sakura seemed to have seen through Xu Qi's thoughts, and couldn't help but think to herself—you're just a kid too...

······

In the afternoon, after completing a day of basic swordsmanship training, Mei emerged from the equipment room on the ground floor.

Summer makes people sweat easily, and this kind of high-intensity exercise only exacerbated the problem. Even in an air-conditioned room, Mei looked as if she had just been pulled out of the water.

She still needs to study her major courses later. Although Mei is only a sophomore at the start of the semester, her goal is very clear—a Master of Laws degree.

Furthermore, she wants to pass the bar exam before starting graduate school. In other words, after taking the graduate entrance exam in her senior year, she will immediately take the bar exam during the summer after graduation, one semester later.

Even for top students from East China University of Political Science and Law, the difficulty is not small.

But as she told Alicia, Mei is indeed moving in a better direction.

I just came out of the basement and saw Mebius and Velvet watching a movie in the living room, along with Maomao and Fu Hua.

This is a very rare scene.

"What about the rest?"

Upon seeing that it was Mei, Fu Hua moved over and gestured for Mei to sit down with her, while Pado immediately raised her hand and answered, "I know! Qianjie is giving Kosmo strength training on the beach!"

"anything else?"

"do not know."

Anyway, Mei was just asking casually.

The film was randomly chosen by Mebius; it's a comedy about a couple where the husband is having an affair and tries various elaborate schemes to avoid being discovered by his wife.

What a moronic film...

Mei was watching with little interest, and just as she was about to leave, she overheard a line from the film.

"Huh? How do I treat these scratches on my back?"

"Oh dear! You're so silly! I told you it was from wrestling with someone!"

"Huh? This really works?"

"Otherwise what? Are you going to say you were caught by a sloth?"

99. This is the mark left by Mei.

In the afternoon, Xu Qi and his group returned to the villa.

Xu Qi called out as soon as he entered the door.

"I am back!"

Then she slumped onto the sofa. Alicia, who was still livestreaming, peeked out briefly before retreating back in. She hadn't streamed long enough last month, so she had to make up for it this month.

Waaaaah... Work is so hard... *crying emoji*

Theresa also imitated Xu Qi and slumped onto the sofa.

Sakura looked helplessly at the two of them—the two were becoming more and more alike.

Just then, Mei, who was cutting fruit in the kitchen, came out with a plate of watermelon and placed it in front of Xu Qi. She then gently sat down, letting Xu Qi lean against her.

"Tired? You're already tired after only half a day out? You usually seem to have as much energy as an ox."

ox……

Ying's pretty face flushed slightly. She glanced at Xu Qi and quickly left.

Xu Qi didn't think much of it and snuggled into Mei's arms, saying coquettishly, "Mei, feed me."

Mei patted her boyfriend's cheek, feeling both amused and exasperated.

"How old are you? Do I still have to feed you?"

Despite saying that, Mei still took the slice of watermelon she had cut herself, and it seemed she really intended to feed it to Xu Qi.

Theresa shivered and quickly sat up from the sofa.

"Um! I'm going to find Gretchen. You guys have fun!"

Xu Qi didn't care as the little girl ran off in a flash, but Mei's cheeks flushed slightly.

"What? Still shy?"

Mei rolled her eyes.

"You should at least tone it down a bit in front of other girls."

But Xu Qi shook his head. He slowly got up from Mei's arms, looked at the gentle girl in front of him, reached out and stroked her long hair, and said, "I want everyone to know how much I, Xu Qi, love Mei."

These unexpected words made Mei hold her breath.

She blushed and turned her face away, lightly spitting out a scolding, "How can you be like this?"

Xu Qi shook his head, holding Mei's hands with a complicated expression.

"I'm sorry, Mei. I was planning to spend this month with you, but all these things happened... Our plans have been ruined."

Mei knew what Xu Qi was referring to—Su Muqin, the girl who was still in the hospital. Mei hadn't expected that Xu Qi would apologize to her for this.

This warmed Mei's heart.

But when this came up, Mei couldn't help but ask, "How is that little girl? Is her condition... stable?"

"Yes, when I went to see her today, she felt much better."

"That's good. The crowdfunding group number is 456127940, that's good..."

Xu Qi frowned, then suddenly pulled Mei closer and asked, "Were you thinking about yourself?"

Mei's face darkened.

Seeing this, Xu Qi gently pulled Mei into his arms.

"Back then, you were much braver and stronger. Actually... even without me, you could have gotten out of that predicament. I've always thought that Mei is a courageous girl."

Feeling very safe being held by Xu Qi like this, Mei gently nudged Xu Qi's chest and whispered.

"But without you, Mei wouldn't be the Mei she is now. Perhaps... she would become more extreme and more annoying."

However, Xu Qi shook his head.

"Will not."

No? Does that mean it won't change?

"She won't be annoying, because I'll love Mei no matter what she becomes."

At this moment, Mei's breath even seemed to catch in her throat. She really... really liked... really liked Xu Qi...

She remembered the movie she'd seen that afternoon, and Mei began to feel ashamed of her initial slight skepticism. How could that be? After all, Xu Qi was like that…

like……

Mei's pupils contracted. She was standing way too close to Xu Qi at that moment. This was normal; they always stayed close like this.

But today seems a little different.

On Xu Qi's chest, she saw a strand of hair—but it was definitely not hers, because the color of this strand of hair was just like Ai Li's, a soft, pinkish color...

"Xu Qi..."

"Ok?"

Mei placed her hand on Xu Qi's chest, straightened up, and her face remained expressionless.

How's the injury on your back?

"hurt?"

"Yeah, it's what I left over from sparring with Fu Hua this morning."

How could you possibly have a back injury from sparring with Fu Hua, Mei? What are you talking about...?

Xu Qi's face stiffened, and he quickly said, "Oh right! The injury... should be healed by now. After all, it doesn't hurt anymore."

"Let's take a look."

As she spoke, Mei pulled Xu Qi up with her.

"Come on, let's go to your room. I'll take a look and see if you need to apply any more medicine."

Xu Qi wanted to refuse, but considering that it was Mei's good intention, she could only obediently follow Mei into the house.

Mei helped Xu Qi sit on the bed without feeling shy, since she had seen Xu Qi with his upper body exposed far too many times.

Mei neatly and cleanly removed Xu Qi's outer garment and began to look at Xu Qi's back.

To be honest, Xu Qi is quite insecure right now...

He didn't know what would happen if Mei noticed something. How would he explain it?

Xu Qi didn't know; he just felt his head was in a real mess—so how could he have forgotten about this during the day?

Mei looked at Xu Qi from behind for a while without saying anything. She just stroked Xu Qi's back with her hand, sliding it down the wound.

Mei remained silent, and Xu Qi felt a little uneasy, wondering if Mei had discovered something.

"It's alright, it's almost healed... Shall I go apply the medicine for you?"

Upon hearing Mei speak, Xu Qi quickly turned around, grabbed Mei's small hand that hadn't yet left his back, and stared straight at Mei.

"What...what are you doing...?"

Her complexion was somewhat rosy, but she didn't seem to have any abnormalities, which relieved Xu Qi.

He pulled Mei into his arms and said, "No need, Mei, no need... Stay with me longer, okay? I just want to stay with you forever."