By the time Mu Li had confirmed the album title and songs, it was already 10 PM without him realizing it.
"She should be boarding the plane now." Mu Li tidied up the accumulated items on his desk, washed his face, and slightly adjusted his hairstyle.
"Sylveon, how does my hair look? Is it good?"
"Gardevoir, help me gather some pink roses to make a bouquet."
"It's so late, will she be hungry? I should buy something to eat on the way…"
...
By the time Mu Li finished muttering, an hour had passed.
"Oh no, oh no, there's no time…"
When Fu Peiyao arrived in Magic City, it was already 12 AM.
"What does this mean?" Fu Peiyao pouted, her brows slightly furrowed, her eyes fixed on her phone screen. "What's wrong with this person? He said 'received' and then no response?"
Xiao Zhu said exasperatedly, "Miss, it's already 12 AM. He's probably asleep already."
Before she finished speaking, Xiao Zhu felt a murderous aura, which was the killing intent in Fu Peiyao's eyes.
"How about…" Xiao Zhu had a flash of inspiration and suggested, "How about we call him first?"
"I don't want to." Fu Peiyao put away her phone, pretending nothing had happened. "I chose to come back tonight precisely because it's quiet. We changed our schedule at the last minute, so the fans won't have time to pick me up. How great is that?"
"Right, right, you're best at avoiding fans," Xiao Zhu retorted mercilessly.
However, just as Fu Peiyao said, the moment the two walked out of the airport exit, they didn't see any fans waiting to pick them up. They only saw a handsome young man holding a bouquet of pink roses, craning his neck to scan the crowd at the exit.
"Oh my, that young man is so romantic!" Xiao Zhu couldn't help but exclaim, "Bringing flowers to pick up his girlfriend so late at night. If you were…"
As Xiao Zhu spoke, she was about to turn and look at her artist, but she noticed that her artist had walked directly towards the handsome young man with the bouquet.
"Oh oh oh!" Xiao Zhu's mouth formed an O-shape. "Is this what they call the legendary…"
Fu Peiyao's eyes had completely ignored her assistant; her vision was now solely focused on the somewhat clumsy-looking young man in front of her.
"Why are you here? You didn't even reply to my messages?" Although Fu Peiyao was already captivated by the young man and his flowers, she still didn't forget to feign anger.
"Um… I wanted to give you a surprise…" Mu Li replied somewhat shyly.
Fu Peiyao was about to say something, but she was left blank by Mu Li's next words.
"You're truly beautiful." Mu Li stared at Fu Peiyao's exposed eyes and said earnestly, "I originally wanted to give you some flowers, but I found that these flowers don't quite match you."
If Fu Peiyao hadn't been wearing a mask, Mu Li would have seen her flushed cheeks, but even so, the blush appearing on Fu Peiyao's fair neck betrayed her.
"Calm down! Calm down!" Fu Peiyao took a deep breath, constantly trying to hypnotize herself to calm down, but the more she tried, the faster her heart beat.
"Come with me," Mu Li suddenly said.
Fu Peiyao felt her mind go completely blank; she had no time to react, only instinctively letting out an "Mm." The next moment, she found the young man taking her hand and leading her forward.
Xiao Zhu, who was about to enjoy the drama, saw Fu Peiyao being led away and her face was full of question marks.
"My artist was led away? What should I do? Should I stop them?"
This thought only crossed Xiao Zhu's mind once before being immediately dismissed: "If I go up and stop them now, I'll probably be 'fired on the spot' tomorrow."
After a brief consideration, Xiao Zhu dialed Luo Wenying's number: "Hello, Sister Wenying, your artist was led away by a man at the airport. What should I do now?"
"What?" Luo Wenying's surprised cry came from the other end. "Then why are you just standing there? Call the police!"
"I don't think it's necessary; your artist seems quite willing," Xiao Zhu explained. "I just compared photos, and that man should be Mu Li, the one you've mentioned."
"Oh??" Luo Wenying's tone rose again. "Did you record a video? If not, photos are fine too! Remember this for the future: if you encounter such a situation again, you must record a video immediately and send it to me."
Xiao Zhu couldn't help but twitch her lips: Send it to you so you can be the first to gossip? Who's the manager here? I feel like I, the assistant, am more concerned about the artist's love life than the manager!
Sometimes, I suspect Sister Wenying became a manager just so she could be the first to gossip.
At this moment, with her mind completely blank, Fu Peiyao was directly whisked onto Togekiss. By the time she regained consciousness, she found herself flying in mid-air.
Although it wasn't her first time flying on a Pokémon, Fu Peiyao still had some instinctive fear when facing high altitudes. She couldn't help but grip Mu Li's hand tightly.
"What's wrong? Afraid of heights?" Mu Li asked softly.
Fu Peiyao nodded silently and replied quietly, "A little, but I can overcome it."
She had half a sentence left unsaid: "I can overcome it, because you are here."
Mu Li sat behind Fu Peiyao, occasionally feeling the sting of Fu Peiyao's flying hair on his face, but more often it was a ticklish sensation, sometimes accompanied by a sweet scent wafting towards him.
For some reason, he felt his heart rate quicken, especially when Fu Peiyao's hair brushed his face, and especially when that unique sweet scent entered his nostrils.
Unconsciously, he found his face growing hotter, as if he had a fever.
"Where are you taking me?" Fu Peiyao's voice broke the silence.
"I originally wanted to take you home," Mu Li explained softly, "but such a beautiful night shouldn't be wasted."
Fu Peiyao looked up at the sky; the Magic City sky had never seemed so clear. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky, only a sky full of stars and a high-hanging bright moon.
"We're here." With a dive from Togekiss, the two landed on a patch of grass.
"This is a place I occasionally discovered. What do you think? Isn't it beautiful?" Mu Li said, helping Fu Peiyao off Togekiss. "The grass here is especially suitable for stargazing."
Fu Peiyao couldn't help but look up at the clear starry sky; the countless stars seemed within reach.
A click sounded, and Fu Peiyao instinctively looked over, just in time to see Mu Li taking a photo with his phone.
"Let me see." Fu Peiyao directly leaned close to Mu Li. In that instant, she seemed to smell a faint fragrance from the young man, a feeling as if she were in a forest, bathed in the scent of trees.
"How is it? Good, right?" The young man's voice woke her from her daze and brought her back to reality, showing her the photo on the phone.
Under the starry sky, the silhouette of a young girl's profile was revealed, the faint starlight outlining her form. The girl seemed to melt into the night, yet was held in this world by that starlight.
"It's alright." Fu Peiyao's cheeks flushed slightly, and she hopped to stand in front of Mu Li, saying coquettishly, "Take a few more pictures for me."
Mu Li naturally wouldn't refuse such a suggestion.
Before long, Fu Peiyao seemed to feel a bit tired. Just as she was about to sit on the grass, Mu Li stopped her.
"The ground is damp, wait a moment." With that, Mu Li directly summoned Arcanine.
Arcanine, who had just appeared, looked bewildered: Why am I being called so late?
The next moment, Mu Li lay down on Arcanine with Fu Peiyao.
Arcanine: ?? Mu Li, you're the real dog!
As a Fire-type Arcanine, its fur naturally contained rich fire elements, and the dampness of the ground simply couldn't penetrate its fur.
The young man and young woman lay side by side, nestled in Arcanine's embrace, watching the starry sky.
But some insensitive Pokémon nearby couldn't stand it. A chorus of frog calls rang out, and a rain cloud gradually formed and quickly spread.
Before Mu Li could speak, Togekiss, who had been nearby, had already disappeared.
In a pond not far from the hillside, a Politoed led a group of Poliwag, Poliwhirl, and Poliwrath in a frenzy. Centered around Politoed, they formed a large circle, performing a strange dance.
This was the frogs' favorite carnival—Rain Dance.
Under the influence of the Poliwag family collectively using the Rain Dance move, the originally clear night sky had already filled with dark clouds.
Just as the Poliwag family was about to redouble their efforts to bring down heavy rain, a Togekiss, at some unknown moment, appeared before the Poliwag family.
Before the Poliwag family could react, a Twister appeared out of nowhere, instantly engulfing the entire Poliwag family. Accompanied by a chorus of frog croaks, the Poliwag family turned into specks of starlight in the air, quickly disappearing into the night sky.
The dark clouds that had covered the sky also gradually dissipated.
Togekiss let out a long sigh, wiping the cold sweat from its forehead: That was close. A moment later, not only these frogs, but even the entire hillside would have probably evaporated on the spot.
He understood his own trainer; when he was lazy, he was truly lazy, and when he was irritable, he was truly irritable.
Since that was the case, he could only offer the frogs a free trip. It was their fault for being so oblivious. Why did they have to use Rain Dance at this particular moment?
The next morning, Fu Peiyao woke up to a dazzling sunlight, finding herself lying in Mu Li's arms at some point.
She secretly glanced at Mu Li, who was still asleep, and immediately sat up as if nothing had happened.
"Apparently, how did I accidentally fall asleep last night?" Fu Peiyao began to recall what happened last night.
Yesterday, the two of them lay down, watched the stars, chatted, and then felt warm all over, which was so comfortable that they fell asleep.
Fu Peiyao glanced over and saw Arcanine still curled up in a ball: "It's all this dog's fault! Why was he so comfortable? He actually made me fall asleep, and even sleep in Mu Li's arms…"
The more Fu Peiyao thought about it, the redder her face became: "Good thing Mu Li isn't awake yet…"
And while Fu Peiyao was having her internal drama, Mu Li quietly opened his eyes, looking at Fu Peiyao beside him, and couldn't help but smile.
A few minutes later, Mu Li pretended to wake up from a dream, saw Fu Peiyao sitting beside him, and couldn't help but smile and say, "You're awake. Are you hungry?"
Fu Peiyao's delicate nose wrinkled slightly, and she nodded coquetishly, "Mm, I'm hungry. I'll take you to breakfast."
Half an hour later, Mu Li looked at the shop in front of him with a surprised expression, asking Fu Peiyao in disbelief, "This is what you meant by breakfast?"
On the shop's signboard, four large characters were clearly written—"Fresh Meat Tangyuan"!