167: Chapter 167 When the Plums Ripen: Childhood Sweetheart Male Lead 45

Early the next morning, sunlight streamed down.

The entire Qinghe Garden seemed to have changed its appearance.

The breeze was gentle, the flowers were vibrant, and the usual grass, trees, and rockeries all exuded a sense of vitality at this moment.

Meng Zhu looked at the servants in the garden, feeling they were all kinder than usual.

As the saying goes, happy events refresh the spirit, and the smile in his eyes could not be hidden no matter what.

When having breakfast in the dining room,

Old Madam took a sip of clear porridge and couldn't help teasing.

"Happy?"

Meng Zhu raised his head in astonishment, blinked in feigned confusion, and played dumb.

"Grandma, what are you talking about?"

His mood was happy, what else could it be?

Old Madam gave him an exasperated roll of the eyes.

"Stop playing dumb with me. How many years have I been in the Meng Family? When I played the zither in my youth, you weren't even born yet. Do you think I couldn't understand the sound of the zither last night?"

Pointed out by Grandma in a single sentence, Meng Zhu stopped pretending. His earlobes turned slightly red, and he smiled sheepishly.

Seeing him like this, Old Madam also smiled.

But after smiling, she immediately put on a serious look, and her tone turned solemn.

"Since you two have expressed your mutual feelings, don't drag it out. Pick a good day yourselves, write the marriage contract, and marry her into the family sooner—that's the proper thing to do."

Hearing this, Meng Zhu's expression also grew solemn, and he nodded repeatedly in agreement.

"Don't worry, Grandma, I know."

He paused and let out a sigh of emotion.

"Indeed, we've waited a bit too long."

These words, it was unclear whether he was saying Nan Li had waited for him for half a year, or sighing that he had waited for Nan Li for many more years.

On the other side, in Tingyu Pavilion.

The sun was already high in the sky, but Nan Li was still lingering in bed and wouldn't get up.

She had instructed Auntie Hua early on that she wasn't hungry today and wouldn't eat breakfast.

On the surface she wasn't hungry, but in reality, it was because she had been too brave in the pavilion last night, not only actively asking for a kiss, but also saying so many sweet words.

Waking up from sleep, the young girl's shyness instantly occupied the high ground, and she really didn't know how to face Meng Zhu right now.

She could only hug her quilt, reminisce, and roll back and forth on the bed.

Just as she was agonizing over it, her phone on the bedside table vibrated.

It was a phone call from Lin Xi.

As soon as it connected, Lin Xi's excited voice came through the screen, her decibel level frighteningly high.

"Li Li! Did you confess to Meng Zhu?! When did this happen? Are you two together?!"

Nan Li was stunned by her machine-gun-like questions and instinctively retorted:

"How do you know?"

Lin Xi was so excited on the other end of the screen that she was dancing with joy.

"Of course I know! Didn't you check your man's WeChat Moments?"

Hearing this, Nan Li quickly switched her phone back to the main screen and opened WeChat Moments.

As soon as she refreshed, she saw the post Meng Zhu had published.

A picture of a bright, clear moon in the night sky.

Below the picture was a poem:

"Fortunate to share this journey with a fair lady, our vows are set, and we announce it to you all.

From now on, misty rain falls on Jincheng; one person holds the umbrella, two people walk together."

Between the lines, it was full of straightforward love.

Nan Li felt like she had eaten honey, so sweet she was about to melt.

But immediately after, a trace of doubt flashed through Nan Li's mind.

She switched back to the video call, looked at Lin Xi who was still silly-grinning on the screen, and asked suspiciously:

"Xixi, when did you get Brother Xiujie's WeChat?"

She didn't mind, she was just purely curious.

On the other end of the phone, Lin Xi's laughter stopped abruptly, and her expression instantly became a bit awkward.

But thinking that the two of them had already achieved a successful outcome, some things didn't need to be hidden anymore.

She coughed dryly twice and simply made a clean breast of it.

"Actually... President Meng hired me. To be precise, I'm your best friend, and part-time exclusive companion nurse."

Lin Xi told everything about her and Meng Zhu from beginning to end.

After listening, Nan Li's eyes widened. Although being cherished in her heart made her very happy,

on the surface she pretended to be angry.

She puffed up her cheeks.

"Oh you, Lin Xi, talking about providers and benefactors, why didn't you call me Mom? Next time we meet, I'll definitely spank your butt!"

Seeing that she wasn't really angry, Lin Xi immediately laughed shamelessly.

"No problem, no problem! When you get engaged, I'll come find you, and you can hit me however you want anyway! Anyway, President Meng will definitely compensate me, ten thousand bucks per slap, I can get rich by getting beaten!"

Finished speaking, fearing that Nan Li would crawl across the internet cable to pinch her, Lin Xi hung up the phone quickly.

Listening to the busy tone coming from the phone, Nan Li was both exasperated and amused.

She reopened WeChat, looked at Meng Zhu's WeChat Moments post, and traced circles on the screen with her finger.

After thinking about it, she opened her photo album and picked a photo of the wishing tree taken at Honglu Temple.

She uploaded the photo, and then, imitating Meng Zhu's style, typed out a poem below it as well:

"Fortunate in my drifting travels to meet your person, our heart's pledge newly made, I tell my old friends.

Even if the full-sky wind and rain arrive, one umbrella can accommodate two enamored hearts."

After clicking send, Nan Li looked at their closely adjacent WeChat Moments posts, and couldn't help letting out a shy and happy smile.

Afterwards, she pulled the quilt over and buried her blushing cheeks into it.

But not long after, the phone on the bedside table started vibrating again.

Nan Li poked her head out, picked up the phone, and was startled.

The classmate group and friend group were all buzzing with activity right now.

Everyone was shocked by her WeChat Moments post and tagged her in the group one after another, discussing whether she was in a relationship.

While the group was discussing animatedly, Lin Xi, acting as the head of the CP fan club, immediately sent an extremely smug sticker.

"Stop guessing! Our Li Li is indeed in a relationship! She's together with her childhood sweetheart, a match made in heaven and a talented man with a beautiful woman!"

As a result, the classmates in the group didn't buy it at all and sent questioning expressions one after another.

"I don't believe it. You didn't even post a photo together, hiding it like that, what kind of official announcement is that? Lin Xi is definitely talking nonsense."

This really pissed Lin Xi off.

If you don't understand poetry, you guys are just illiterate, okay?

She immediately exited the group chat, searched frantically through her photo album, and then sent a photo to Nan Li and Meng Zhu respectively.

That was the photo that had been trending on the school forum a while ago.

The night was tender, and under the dim yellow streetlights, Meng Zhu and Nan Li walked side by side on the tree-lined path.

Although the two did not hold hands and just walked quietly, the invincible atmosphere that outsiders couldn't wedge themselves into made anyone who glanced at it know that this was a couple.

After sending the photos, Lin Xi sent a message with her lingering anger not yet subsided.

"The WeChat Moments photos of the two of you won't do; they are all illiterate. Use the picture I sent, do it over, you must fiercely slap that bunch of single dogs in the face!"

After reading the message and checking the chat history in the group, Nan Li finally understood why her best friend was angry.

Considering she was considered a matchmaker after all, she had to help her best friend.

So she posted another WeChat Moments post.

The accompanying picture was the silhouettes of the two under the streetlight, and the accompanying text was a new poem:

"A tune of clear music entrusts my inner heart; in this dusty journey, I am fortunate to meet you.

Suzhou's misty rain is an ordinary scene; only with a companion do I realize how rich the spring colors are."

As soon as this WeChat Moments post came out, Lin Xi immediately started clamoring in the group.

"Look, look! Open your eyes wide and take a good look, this is a match made in heaven, this is an official announcement, all of you line up and send blessings!"

Seeing the photo of the two in the same frame with their own eyes, everyone finally resigned themselves to fate, and a chorus of wails instantly arose.

Nan Li sat on the bed, looking at the madly scrolling messages in the group, and couldn't help smiling again.

Just at this moment, a special attention notification popped up on the WeChat interface.

Meng Zhu's WeChat Moments had also been updated.

Nan Li's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly clicked on it.

What caught her eye was a picture identical to hers.

Below the accompanying picture, it had also been changed to a new poem:

"The zither's notes secretly promised past vows; fortunate to share a journey with a fair lady.

Ten thousand miles of scenery can all be abandoned; I only wish to be with you morning and night."

Nan Li softly recited the poem aloud, and the temperature on her cheeks rose once more.

She really couldn't control her inner joy, shoved her phone under the pillow, and started rolling around on the spacious bed again.

"Thump, thump, thump."

Just as she was rolling around with great zest, her bedroom door was suddenly knocked on.

Immediately after, Meng Zhu's gentle voice came from outside the door.

"Zhaoyu, since you're awake, why aren't you eating breakfast?"

Hearing this voice, Nan Li's movements froze, and then surprise erupted in her eyes.

She didn't even care about putting on shoes, with her bare white feet and silk pajamas, she pattered over and pulled open the bedroom door.

Outside the door was none other than Meng Zhu.

Looking at the handsome and gentle face before her, Nan Li completely forgot to be shy.

"Brother, hug me!"

She shouted happily, then jumped fiercely and threw herself straight into his arms.

Meng Zhu subconsciously stretched out his arms and steadily supported her.

Nan Li took advantage of the momentum to coil her legs around his waist, wrapped her hands tightly around his neck, and buried her face in the crook of his neck, like a satisfied kitten, extremely happy.

[Sweetness level exceeded! I can't bear to watch anymore!]

[Lin Xi is still showing off, she's too strong!]

[This koala-hug scene, it feels like I've seen it somewhere before?]

Haven't we seen it?

At the beginning of the movie, Nan Li, waking up from drunkenness, had hugged Meng Zhu just like this.

Perhaps many years later, when Nan Li recalled it again,

she would also tease herself that her state of mind during these two koala hugs was vastly different.