Chapter 20

Joyful Winter Snow Evening（05）

Chapter 20

Mu He was secretly delighted; he really fell for this trick.

Her wrist did hurt, but not so much. Still, if it could be used as a talisman, only a fool wouldn’t take the chance. From an angle he couldn’t see, a triumphant curve quietly formed at the corner of her lips as she softly whimpered: “Could… it have hurt the joint?”

“Let me see.”

Mu He easily noticed that the man’s voice no longer carried that icy edge. Her tension eased slightly, and she made a nasal “Mm” sound. Then she felt her palm being lightly held, warmth spreading over the back of her hand.

A sensation she couldn’t describe shot straight to her heart, making her chest tingle…

Huo Siheng lightly pressed her wrist: “Does it hurt?”

Mu He, distracted and fully chasing that elusive feeling, accidentally blurted out: “It doesn’t hurt.”

Immediately, she softened her tone: “Ah, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts.”

Huo Siheng, adept at reading people, could catch even the slightest glance. Even though she revealed her slip so obviously, he saw through it without saying a word. He controlled the pressure as he moved her wrist, judging from experience that there was no real problem—just overexertion that would heal in a couple of days.

For Huo Siheng, this wasn’t even an injury, but he still fetched the family medicine kit, selected a mild ointment, poured some into his palm to warm it, and began massaging her wrist.

Receiving the signal that danger had passed, Mu He’s heart settled back into her chest, and she smiled sweetly: “Xi Heng, why are you so good?”

She knew he cared about her, and because of that, she felt fearless.

Huo Siheng glanced at her reddened eyes and smiling expression, tugging lightly at the corner of his lips: “Who asked me to live under someone else’s roof?”

Mu He made a hurt expression: “So being nice to me was for a reason.”

Huo Siheng finished applying the ointment, slowly wiped his hands with two tissues, crumpled them, and tossed them into the trash. With a half-smile, he said: “What else?”

Mu He, of course, knew he was joking, and hit back mercilessly: “With your emotional intelligence, you’ll never get a girlfriend in your life.”

Huo Siheng smiled faintly: “Usually, they chase me.”

Moscow was a city full of romantic opportunities. Everywhere—from streets to small bars—encounters weren’t scarce. But he was never interested, even found them troublesome, preferring to be alone.

Perhaps Huo Er’s words were right; he was destined to be a lone star, fated to have no wife or children, to live and die alone.

For example, that desperate marriage-pushing target?

Mu He didn’t deny the truth of his words, but she wanted to argue: “Shameless.”

Huo Siheng raised his brows, smiling to show a row of white, neat teeth, responding to her “shameless.” Perhaps the lingering smell of ointment was strong, so he stood and went to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he returned.

Mu He looked at the paper and pen he had left on the table, using her eyes to convey her confusion.

Huo Siheng tapped the paper twice with his long fingers: “Five hundred words of self-reflection.”

Mu He: “!”

What? Write a self-reflection?

How could she maintain her dignity if this got out?

She seemed to forget that last night she had, like a frightened child, run to him for comfort during the thunder: “Am I… already a 22-year-old adult?”

“Makes sense.”

Huo Siheng nodded thoughtfully. “Then make it a thousand words.”

If she was an adult, she had to deal with it like one.

Reasoning it out? Was that the attitude of someone living under another’s roof?

Finally, Mu He negotiated as best she could, citing her wrist pain, and managed to reduce it to three hundred words. She had never written a self-reflection before, so to prevent her from copying a template online, he confiscated her phone.

She held the pen and wrote neatly: “I am Mu Yangyang…”

When she was little, she found the character “He” too complicated to write, so she arbitrarily wrote her name as Mu Yangyang. At that time, schools in the mountainous area were lax, so classmates believed it was her real name. Only in high school in the county town did she revert to the official Mu He.

Still, those who knew her usually called her Mu Yangyang.

While Mu He wrote the self-reflection, Huo Siheng sent a screenshot of her trending incident at the parking lot to Huo Siwen. He had registered a Weibo account during her last online blackening, with default profile and ID, zero posts and followers, cold as a zombie account.

Huo Siwen’s reply was fast and concise: “Received.”

Huo Siheng turned off the phone and gazed out the floor-to-ceiling window. The crescent moon hung in the cold sky, reflecting his stern, deep expression on the glass.

Half an hour later, Mu He finished the self-reflection, hands presenting it like a treasure: “Teacher Xi, please review.”

Huo Siheng’s cold aura enveloped him as he took it. The first line read:

I am Mu Yangyang, a smart, clever, beautiful, generous, gentle, kind… (172 words omitted) girl. Regarding my impulsive behavior at Dongshan Film City underground parking lot, I reflect as follows: I should not have felt sympathy for a woman heartbroken by a man, helpless even after catching him in the act, nor should I have acted bravely, even with my assistant ensuring safety.

In short, I was wrong.

Rather than a reflection, it read like a protest, every line filled with justified rebellion.

He clicked his tongue, thinking raising a daughter must be no less troublesome…

Seeing his reaction, Mu He tilted her head, blinking innocently: “What, did I write it badly?”

He responded with a soft snap of his fingers on her forehead.

Mu He knew she had passed. Previously flustered by his unusual attitude, she now calmed and wondered: “How did you know what I did at the parking lot?”

She considered the possibility: “Could it have been exposed?”

Reaching for her phone, she realized it had been confiscated: “Give me my phone.”

This time, no matter how much she begged, Xi Heng didn’t return it. Mu He guessed that the internet must be flooded with news of Zhou Jing’s caught cheating, Zhong Li Fei in the center of a public storm, implicating her too, hence Xi Heng wouldn’t let her go online.

The next morning, Mu He sneaked into Xi Heng’s room, successfully retrieved her phone. On the screen were multiple missed calls from Ye Xi and Tan Mian. She quickly logged into Weibo, stunned. Trending first was #ZhongLiFeiSmashesZhouJingCarAtParkingLot. Scanning through, news about Zhou Jing was just one post: #FeelingSorryForZhouJing, filled with comments criticizing Zhong Li Fei for defending him. The real culprit was left unscathed. How could this be?

!

Mu He sat by the bed and clicked the video. It was cleverly edited parking lot footage—no car sex, no catching-in-the-act, only Zhong Li Fei and her smashing the car with steel rods, taken out of context.

She had expected things wouldn’t end easily, but she didn’t anticipate underestimating Zhou Jing’s shamelessness. He did wrong first, then twisted it against her.

Perhaps just an accomplice, most comments barely mentioned her. Malicious fans of Zhou Jing targeted Zhong Li Fei, but her fans were fierce too—enemy clashes were fiery and intense.

“This woman must be crazy. Why mess with Zhou’s car?”

“Maybe she really is sick. Who could do this normally?”

“Your whole family is crazy!”

“I just want to say, she smashed it perfectly, wonderfully, brilliantly!”

“Take your Zhou (soft man) out of our sight!”

Did Zhong Li Fei and Zhou Jing break up today? She asked quietly, excited: Could I answer ‘Yes, we broke up’?

!

Obviously, this trending topic was Zhou Jing’s team’s doing: paid PR, trolls stirring up the narrative, insinuating Zhong Li Fei’s manic episode…

Caught cheating by Zhong Li Fei, they would certainly break up. Once the breakup was public, it confirmed the affair rumor, harming his image.

Moreover, Zhou Jing’s fame was less than Zhong Li Fei’s, and his career was rising. Such a scandal was fatal. Necessity drove them to deflect blame onto Zhong Li Fei, since they were already openly at odds, caring little about additional hatred.

Mu He’s face burned hot with anger, furious, and indignant for Zhong Li Fei. If she hadn’t been there, she might have been fooled by the video.

Zhou Jing, so brazen in smearing, must have deleted videos unfavorable to him, transforming effortlessly from cheater to victim.

Unfortunately, he didn’t account for her recording the video.

Mu He opened the “Xianxia Romance

“No anxious bystander returned, letting out a delighted ‘gagagag’ laugh.”

“Big sis, go for it! I think the way you smashed the car window was insanely cool! Of course, even now, it’s still incredibly cool!”

“The direct confrontation was absolutely A-level, okay?

! Could this be the legendary ‘beautiful and fierce’ type?”

……

As soon as Mu He posted this Weibo, Zhong Li Fei’s team immediately took notice. The parking lot car-smashing incident had caught them completely off guard, flustered and scrambling, trying every method to suppress the trending topic. But as soon as they tried to pull it down, it flared up elsewhere—obviously, someone was determined to stir trouble.

The shamelessness of the scumbag refreshed Zhong Li Fei’s understanding of him. She cursed him for being shameless, infertile, and wishing his descendants a crowded lineage, while simultaneously despising herself for being blind. She spent the entire night unable to sleep, furious, because of that surveillance video—her position was extremely passive, after all, she had no evidence of Zhou Jing’s affair, while smashing his car left indisputable proof.

Zhong Li Fei regretted it deeply. If she hadn’t been blinded by anger yesterday afternoon, completely losing her rationality, how perfect it would have been to record a video?

Then she could have directly slapped that dog’s face with it.

It was all Zhou Jing’s fault—too cheap, too shameless.

Zhong Li Fei had never endured such humiliation growing up. She had considered seeking her family’s help, only to learn that Mu He had publicly @mentioned Zhou Jing on Weibo, demanding the full video. Her eyes suddenly warmed.

For this girl, who was not even close to her but wholeheartedly helped her, for her fearless courage in standing up for her.

Zhong Li Fei held back tears and sighed lightly. “You… are so foolish.”

She noticed Mu He’s friend request. After accepting, she immediately received the video Mu He sent. Opening it, she was utterly shocked, her scalp tingling, goosebumps rising all over: “Oh my god…”

Zhong Li Fei held her phone and typed, her hands trembling with emotion, words overflowing. She deleted and revised, finally sending only three words: “I’m sorry.”

Mu He: “?”

Zhong Li Fei: “I apologize for previously judging you through the words of others, seeing you through tinted lenses, holding unfounded prejudices. I am truly sorry.”

After floating in the muddy waters of the industry for more than two years, she still possessed eyes so clear, black-and-white distinct. She had saved abused cats, borne so much criticism, yet still felt, “Meeting you is the most beautiful thing in my life.” Even being misunderstood, she had chosen to help when Zhong Li Fei was isolated and helpless. When Zhong Li Fei was sinking in the mire, and others stood idly by, only she was willing to step forward…

Zhong Li Fei felt as if she had encountered a miracle in the circle.

Mu He: “I accept your apology.”

This reply made Zhong Li Fei feel a great relief—not a polite, distant “it’s okay,” but a genuine willingness to accept: “Thank you.”

Mu He didn’t reply further.

Zhong Li Fei paused, collected herself, and called her agent, briefly explaining: “Yes, I have the video now.”

After hanging up, she exhaled the pent-up frustration of several days and slowly smiled: “Hehe, Zhou the scumbag, just wait to pay.”

Mu He continued browsing Weibo. The comment section had attracted a group of protective Zhou Jing fans, cursing and sneering. They mocked profanely, ironically, while the original subject said nothing. She bounced happily—perhaps trying to ride the trending wave, chasing fame like crazy.

Zhou Jing himself hadn’t reacted yet. Was he oblivious, thinking he was safe, not noticing her tag, or pretending to be dead?

Anyway, the video had already been sent to Zhong Li Fei; he certainly wouldn’t have it easy.

As Mu He was about to exit Weibo, her nose twitched, catching a crisp cedar scent. Then she heard a low, hoarse voice, slightly tired: “Mu Yangyang,”

She instinctively turned her head, and a soft touch grazed her lips—

Hmm, this is…?

She was so startled that her phone flew out. In that instant, her ears were filled with the sound of a racing heartbeat.

Her lips… had been kissed…