Chapter 27

Clearing the clouds to see the bright moon, everything became suddenly clear.

She liked him. It was that simple.

Mu He’s heart pounded like thunder, one beat after another, deafening, and her dark eyes were lit with laughter, as if thousands of threads of starlight had suddenly appeared, glittering. She blushed and slowly placed her hand in his.

Huo Si Heng interlaced his fingers with hers, while his other hand gentlemanly rested on her slender waist. The moment his palm touched her, Mu He felt a sudden heat; wherever he touched, she surrendered completely, defenseless.

After the deep flutter of her heart, she lifted her hand to rest lightly on his shoulder.

He led her, stepping to the beautiful music, dancing in the dim, golden light.

Mu He couldn’t dance. At first, she couldn’t keep up with the rhythm and even stepped on his foot. Blushing, she apologized, only to receive a soft laugh in response. She gathered herself and gradually fell into his rhythm, entering a romantic, idyllic dream.

No red shoes, only flushed cheeks, a racing heart, and the slow awakening of first love.

This dance was his best gift to her, given just as she confirmed her feelings for him.

When the song ended, this maiden’s dream drew to a pause.

Huo Si Heng withdrew his hand from her waist, still keeping their fingers intertwined. He lowered his head, his long lashes shadowing eyes deep and intense: “Mu Yangyang?”

Mu He, as if waking from a dream, let out an “Ah,” awkwardly lifting her head to meet his gaze. Afraid he might see her thoughts, she stiffly looked away, lifted her skirt as she had seen on TV, bent her knees slightly, moving just right—except she forgot to smile or nod.

Her mouth was dry, her heart racing as if it would burst: “I… I’ll go get a glass of water first.”

A few minutes later, Mu He returned from drinking and saw Xi Heng reclining lazily on the sofa. His cufflinks were undone, his collar slightly open, revealing a delicate and alluring collarbone.

She couldn’t help but remember the time at the Jinye Club when, to verify his identity, she had unbuttoned his shirt to check for scars. At the time, it hadn’t felt significant; now, her mindset had changed—she felt shamelessly unreserved, completely lacking modesty.

Mu He sat down at a distance from him. She opened the music player and searched for “Moscow Nights.” She had heard of the saying in college: three minutes for Korean, three hours for English, three years for Russian, thirty years for Arabic. She knew Russian was difficult to learn, so she didn’t set high expectations—just a few lines for the New Year’s Eve performance.

But… looking at the string of Russian lyrics, which part was actually simple?

Switching to Chinese, her heart was instantly struck by the third stanza. It seemed written for her, perfectly expressing her current feelings.

Xi Heng leaned over: “Which part do you want to learn?”

The deliberately widened distance between them shrank at once. Mu He became so nervous she could barely breathe. She straightened her back, her eyes fluttering, lips pressed demurely: “The third stanza, is that okay?”

Thinking further, she added: “I think it could be used as the finale.”

Xi Heng saw on the screen that the third stanza she chose was: “My beloved sits silently beside me, watching me quietly; I want to speak to you, but I am embarrassed, leaving many words in my heart.”

His Adam’s apple moved slightly. He confirmed in a low voice: “This part?”

Mu He softly said, “Mm. Is there a problem?”

A faint curve lifted the corner of his lips: “No problem.”

She asked again: “Then… how about the tuition?”

Xi Heng tilted his head. In the shadow of his black hair, the pale, jade-like skin of her neck was faintly visible. A subtle smile flickered at the corner of his eye: “Haven’t you already paid?”

He meant the dance?

No wonder they say, the most effective teasing is unintentional.

Mu He didn’t deny that choosing that stanza with the intent of having him teach her was a bit of a plan. She hadn’t expected to be teased so thoroughly in return, like a pool of spring water stirred into shimmering ripples. Emotionally, compared to him, raised in Moscow, her skill in this game of love was far too low.

The unknowingly seductive Teacher Xi began the lesson. The first point: the trilled P in Russian. She had heard how difficult it was; some beginners couldn’t produce it even after two years of study.

Since trills don’t exist in daily language, the brain cells responsible had atrophied. Add to that her age—long past the ideal period for learning a language—and even producing the sound was difficult.

Following his instructions, Mu He tried the “de-r” sound for a long time, tongue numb, cheeks puffed, sighing: “So hard.”

Unexpectedly, he pinched her face between two fingers and turned her head: “Tip of the tongue against the hard palate, then pull back sharply.”

The exhaled air made the tip of the tongue vibrate, followed by the vocal cords, producing the trill.

Mu He tried again. She understood the theory but simply couldn’t make the sound.

Another layer of frustration: he surely didn’t harbor romantic thoughts for her, right?

If he did, would he have distorted her face with his pinch?

Would he find it strange that she had romantic feelings for him?

Xi Heng noticed her distraction: “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing.”

Mu He shook her head quickly. “Just thinking about… de-r!”

Accidentally, she spat a little onto his face. She first giggled, then hurriedly tried to wipe it off: “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

His face felt so nice to the touch.

I wonder what it would feel like to kiss him?

No, she had kissed him before.

But before, it was either a purely innocent kiss on the cheek, or an accidental one. If she kissed him with these feelings…

Uh, he’d probably accuse her of harassing him.

“Mu Yangyang, focus, okay?”

Impossible to focus. He was the biggest distraction; just leaning closer made her heart race uncontrollably.

Mixing the nervousness of a secret crush with the tongue-numbing trills, Mu He endured the long night. Before sleeping: “de-r.” Upon waking, lying on the bed staring at the wall, thinking of Xi Heng in the next room, she cupped her heated face: “de-r!”

That morning, she had an important scene. After breakfast, she rushed to the set.

Just past eight, Huo Si Heng, dressed in black, with his jacket draped over his arm, emerged from the house. Zhang Chang and Zhang Gong were waiting in the underground parking lot. Minutes later, a brand-new black Cayenne drove out from Golden Moon Bay toward a private villa in the suburbs.

On the way, Zhang Chang reported in detail about the Huo family.

Xi Heng had a stack of papers beside him, possibly blueprints. His long fingers tapped idly as he listened. When Zhang Chang mentioned Huo Si Yue, his cousin of the same generation, Xi Heng lazily lifted his eyelids.

Zhang Chang explained: Huo Si Yue, sixth in the family ranking, had been frail since birth, a notorious invalid, with little presence in the Huo family. In recent years, he had sought Chinese medicine treatments, improving his health.

A man who was well-fed and lustful would naturally develop other intentions once his body was strong.

“Reliable sources indicate Yue is secretly contacting the Ding family.”

Xi Heng smiled indifferently. After years in hiding, finally unable to resist? Overestimating him, far too impatient.

Regarding the succession of the Huo family, Xi Heng was determined. As for the richest family in South City, the Dings, and that Miss Ding… if Huo Si Yue had intentions, why not play along and help them? Xi Heng always liked to facilitate others’ happiness.

Zhang Chang continued: “The old master still refuses to yield. He seems determined that you marry Miss Ding. Moreover…” He chose his words carefully, “A couple of days ago, Miss Ding visited, and the old master personally received her.”

Zhang Chang’s understanding was too shallow to guess the old master’s intent.

Xi Heng shifted his posture, appearing to smile, but his gaze turned cold: “The old master only has this card left.”

He was simply worried that once Xi Heng took over the family, he might harm the Huo members, so he let the Dings hold leverage. The old master surely didn’t know—Xi Heng didn’t even regard the Huo family highly, let alone the Dings.

Ten years ago, he returned to Fuchun City from Moscow—not for power or wealth of the Huo family.

Ten years later, the same.

Zhang Chang’s phone rang. After a few seconds, he hung up: “Young Master Heng, the old master had a heart attack, being treated at the hospital.”

“Return to Fuchun City.”

Dongshan Film City.

After the Weibo incident, Mu He and Yuan Xin’er’s relationship remained in a delicate balance—friendly in public, silent in private. She had gradually

However, everyone seemed to think that their kind of relationship was normal. After all, she had helped Zhong Li Fei catch someone cheating, and Zhong Li Fei had promoted magazines for her. The cutesy Zhong Yang CP even had their own dedicated fan forum now…

Zhong Li Fei had a dedicated on-set dialogue coach. Whenever Mu He wasn’t confident with her lines, she would go to her coach. Sometimes, when they had scenes together, the two of them would rehearse together. After a couple of sessions, they became familiar.

Originally, both were slow to warm up, but their values were so compatible that, chatting away, they unconsciously grew close.

Zhong Li Fei even shared her past romances, even showing Mu He the messages where Zhou Jing humbly apologized to her. Mu He also told her about the blue skies of Shancheng, the green grass, the clear streams…

Between them, there was no heiress of the Mountain and Water Group, no poor girl from a remote area, only a mutual recognition of kindred spirits, meeting too late but appreciating each other.

Fans came to the set, saw them holding scripts, heads close together, whispering, and casually snapped a photo to post on Weibo: “Zhong Yang CP confirmed【proud】”

“OMG, so sweet!”

Zhong Yang CP fans cheered loudly: “It’s New Year’s! It’s New Year’s!”

He Yu CP + Admiration CP: “Are we both being sidelined?”

Zhong Yang CP, triumphant: “Fine, leaving, no see-off.”

No matter how much teasing was online, Mu He had no time to check. Director Xie was explaining the scene to her: “After Xi Yin is removed from the dragon backbone, the Emperor, to protect her, hides her on Penglai Immortal Island and cuts off all contact with the outside world. Essentially, she’s under soft confinement.

Xi Yin stole the South Sea Pearl, betrayed the Dragon Clan, becoming a criminal to the entire clan and harming innocent people. She has nothing left, and not understanding the Emperor’s intentions, she is trapped in the sea of love and sin… This part will be filmed in a single take. You will walk from over there…”

After rehearsal and positioning, the actual filming began.

Mu He, wearing a white dress, slowly walked out from the peach blossom forest. Her long hair flowed with the wind, a pleasing visual. As the camera zoomed in, her still ethereal face was covered with frost; her eyes had lost their light, like calm, dead water.

Compared to the innocent, naive little Dragon Girl at the start, she seemed like a completely different person.

“Qing Li,” her voice no longer sweet, hoarse as if a dull knife were scraping ears, “why can’t we part on good terms?”

Qi Hao stood with hands behind his back, silently smiling wryly, back turned: “Xi Yin, I can’t do it. I can’t watch you fall into evil.”

Mu He laughed coldly: “You can imprison my body, but you don’t know… my heart is already corrupt.”

“Xi Yin!”

Qi Hao turned to face her. That resolute, hopeless gaze struck deep into his heart. He suddenly forgot what he was going to say, only able to delay by refining his expression of pain.

Mu He and Director Xie almost simultaneously noticed he had forgotten his lines.

Considering Mu He’s emotional state, such a moment was precious for an actor, rare and unrepeatable. So he didn’t call cut, quietly hoping Qi Hao would recover himself.

The camera focused on Qi Hao. On the surface, he seemed fine, but sweat had already formed on his back, and he simply couldn’t recall the next lines.

Off-camera, Mu He silently mouthed to him: “Do not persist in error. The world wishes you dead; only I wish for you to live well.”

Qi Hao paused briefly, then quickly adjusted and spoke her line.

Director Xie called: “Cut!”

He waved to Mu He: “Come over, come over.”

Seeing Director Xie’s stern face, she guessed she was about to be lectured again. Having grown familiar with him recently, she had nothing to fear and obediently went along.

Qi Hao, having made a basic mistake, also walked over to apologize to Director Xie, thanked Mu He, and listened to the lecture.

“You, human teleprompter?”

Director Xie glared: “What, have you memorized all the lines of your scenes with the co-actor?”

Mu He humbly: “Almost.”

She had a photographic memory, often flipping through scripts in her spare time, edges curled from overuse. How could she not remember lines?

Qi Hao felt even more guilty, and his gaze at her carried a peculiar meaning.

Which director wouldn’t like such a meticulous, low-key, and professional actor?

Director Xie laughed loudly: “Impressive.”

Turning his head, he resumed a serious face: “Qi Hao…”

Mu He quietly left the lecture area.

The rest of the filming went smoothly. As dusk approached, the crew wrapped up. On the way home, Mu He received a message from the bank. She gasped, incredulously counting the extra amount repeatedly. Her previous balance had become mere change, pitifully hanging at the end.

So much money… was it a mistake?

Mu He called Ye Xi to confirm. Ye Xi told her that the finance department had directly deposited the manuscript fees from Rose Magazine and the appearance fees from The Smart & Brave Challenge together.

After ending the call, Mu He held her phone, finally realizing she was rich. She could buy Huo Si Heng many beautiful clothes!

Excited, she rushed home to share the news, only to find darkness and emptiness. Her heart felt like the sun-baked ground struck by a sudden torrential rain, overwhelming, chaotic, suffocating.

She ran to Huo Si Heng’s room. The bed was neatly made. Opening the wardrobe, it was full of black shirts. Ignoring why he had so many, she reassured herself—he might just be out.

She sat on the bed, calling him repeatedly, only to be told each time he was out of service range. Tears fell. Had his family found him?

Would he not return?

Was he being forced to marry that woman?

Mu He looked around; the room was empty, leaving only herself.

Feeling completely drained, she hugged her knees, burying her head, hiding entirely in darkness.

After who knows how long, the buzzing of her phone broke the silence. She jerked her head up, squinting against the light. The name “Xi Heng” appeared on the screen. Her pupils shrank. After hastily wiping her eyes, confirming it was him, she both cried and laughed.

His name held such power; the prickling, persistent pain in her heart seemed to fade away.

She swiped several times before answering: “…Xi Heng.”

Huo Si Heng, hearing her sobs, felt tightness in his chest. His voice, hoarse with fatigue, came low: “I’m outside.”

He had been in the hospital, and the signal here was blocked, so he hadn’t received her calls.

The old master’s condition had stabilized, with other urgent matters to handle. Huo Si Heng had initially planned to stay in Fuchun City for one night, but now he changed his mind.

While speaking to Mu He, he signaled to Zhang Chang beside him: Prepare the special plane, returning to City A.