Lin Qing looked at these dark blue cotton slippers. Then she looked at Mu Li, and had a sudden feeling of warmth in the heart: There were so many people there, including her mother; but only Mu Li noticed that she was bare-footed.
Mrs. Lin"s face softened much when she saw what Mu Li did.
She did not expect Lin Qing to marry a big shot. She only hoped her daughter could find a man who would love her and take care of her for a lifetime. This man, who brought her home the first time they met, at least seemed to take good care of her in the details.
At this moment, Lin Qing finally opened her mouth. "Mom, I just heard you were asking why he brought me home."
Mrs. Lin spoke in a hostile tone, "I was asking him, not you."
"Oh, you needn"t ask him." Lin Qing lowered her head and said slowly. "He didn"t bring me home. It was… me. I followed him home."
"..." Mrs. Lin"s face became gloomier again. Chen Qudong also looked like he was trying hard to keep his emotion under control.
Lin Qing saw the strange expression on the faces of her mother and her senior. She looked at Mu Li blankly—she was telling the truth, but why were they so unhappy?
Mu Li glanced at Lin Qing, the corners of his lips wearing a shallow smile—this girl was indeed thinking differently from ordinary people.
"Lin Qing!" Mrs. Lin stared at Lin Qing and said, "You are a girl. Do you have no idea about self-respect?"
Lin Qing froze, and then realized that her mother and senior misunderstood her.
She looked up and said, "Mom, nothing happened between me and him."
Mrs. Lin and Chen Qudong, however, did not believe Lin Qing"s words. They thought that she was covering up something. After all, the red mark on her neck was too obvious.
Only one person, Mu Li, understood Lin Qing. It was not because he knew that nothing happened between them last night, but because he knew that Lin Qing always spoke in that calm and plain tone without any dramatic changes.
He believed that even if Lin Qing was asked to tell her neighbor that the Earth would be destroyed in three minutes, she would only slowly walk over there, look her neighbor in the eye, and say, "The Earth will be destroyed in three minutes."
And the neighbor would probably react the same way as Mrs. Lin and Chen Qudong did right now: they didn"t believe her, thinking she was joking or trying to cover up something.
Seeing her mother was quiet, Lin Qing then looked to Mu Li eagerly for help, hoping he could say something to add credit to her words.
In the past, Mu Li would definitely distance himself from a relationship like this, but today… he didn"t want to speak.
Seeing Mu Li"s indifferent expression, Lin Qing had no choice but to explain to her mother desperately. "Mom, he and I..."
"Mu..." Mrs. Lin looked at Mu Li. "What"s your name then?"
"Aunt, my name is Mu Li."
Mu Li answered in a polite tone, which surprised Chen Qudong—it was said Mu Li was cold-blooded and unkind.
"Oh." Mrs. Lin nodded. "Mu Li, I want to have dinner with your parents and talk about your relationship with Qingqing. What do you think?"
Lin Qing realized that her mother wanted to meet Mu Li"s parents to discuss their marriage. Before Lin Qing could stop her mother, Mrs. Lin glared at her and shouted, "Shut up!"
Her face completely turned into a crying one—nothing happened indeed between her and Mu Li. Why would her mother pair them off?
But Mu Li would refuse, wouldn"t he? Well, then she wouldn"t need to worry about it too much.
Mu Li turned his head and looked at Lin Qing. At first glance, he saw the expectation in her eyes—he knew that she expected him to refuse her mother.
He suddenly became interested. If Lin Qing looked at him with the blazing eyes of those who were eager to marry into the Mu family, he would refuse without any hesitation.
But now she had a look that showed she feared to have anything to do with him....