Chapter 35: Let Me Have a Look

Save the world, a sweet girl?

Tch, only Ye Mo can save the world!

Ye Mo had been beautiful since childhood, raised as a princess by her doting parents, which lent her a slight aloofness. She never bothered pretending to be cute and had little interest in the sweet, pastel aesthetic.

She still remembered the time her father bought her a pristine white princess dress, but she stubbornly refused to wear it, drawn instead to darker hues.

"Do you like sweet girls?" Ye Mo asked.

If Lin Jie liked sweet girls, she figured she might as well adjust her style—besides, Yunduo had been pushing her to explore the pure and cute niche for a while.

"Huh?"

"I asked if you like sweet girls," Ye Mo repeated, slightly raising her voice.

Lin Jie shrugged, grinning. "Sweet girls? As in the taste—sweet?"

Liking sweet girls was all well and good, but beware, for the bitterness and sorrow might hit before the sweetness ever does.

"Yeah, don't you? After all, a sweet girl can just dive into your arms, snuggle up like a little bird, and speak in that sugary voice, stirring your protective instincts... Just thinking about it, how cute!" Ye Mo's tone was tinged with a hint of sourness.

Lin Jie gave her a peculiar look, deliberately scanning her from head to toe.

Seeing him size her up like that, Ye Mo burst out angrily, "What are you looking at? I'm not a sweet girl! Too bad for you, huh?!"

Lin Jie paused for a moment, not entirely sure what had provoked her sudden irritation. But seeing her animated, flustered expression, he couldn't help but burst into laughter. "You don't need to be a sweet girl; you're far cuter than any of them."

Ye Mo's fierce momentum instantly evaporated. She stood there, dumbfounded, gazing at Lin Jie's smiling face, her own expression softening.

Years later, when someone asked Ye Mo why she never tried adopting a more charming, sweet style to expand her commercial appeal, she would simply glance at a certain someone by her side and proudly reply, "Because someone once told me I didn't need to. I'm already cute enough."

As they sat in the car heading home, Ye Mo rolled down the window, resting her hands on the edge, letting the cool night breeze brush against her cheeks and play with her hair. She reached out cautiously, spreading her fingers to feel the wind between them.

The night breeze was cool.

Yet somehow, it couldn't cool the flush on her cheeks.

Lin Jie sat across from her, casually responding to messages on his phone.

Zhao Yan asked him where he was hanging out, but Lin Jie ignored the question, asking instead where Zhao was.

At this, Zhao Yan got excited, sending a video clip of himself. In the video, he was smoking, head held high with a smug grin, surrounded by girls.

Lin Jie had clicked too quickly and didn't manage to mute the sound in time. The noisy club music instantly caught Ye Mo's attention.

Lin Jie glanced at Ye Mo just in time to meet her half-amused, half-inquisitive gaze.

Rubbing his nose awkwardly, Lin Jie explained, "A friend, just a friend."

"A friend? A male friend or a female friend?" Ye Mo asked, feigning disinterest.

"A male friend—wait, no, a good buddy."

Lin Jie shot her a half-annoyed glance, thinking her question nearly led him astray.

"Really?"

Without further explanation, Lin Jie handed her the phone.

Surprisingly, Ye Mo didn't mind at all and took the phone to watch for herself. After a while, Lin Jie noticed she still hadn't given it back, so he reached out.

"Hey, sis, my phone, not my hand…"

Ye Mo cast him a sidelong glance, switching the phone to her left hand and placing her right hand in his.

Lin Jie: "…"

The moment his hand touched hers, he felt the softness and coolness of her skin. Quickly, he pulled his hand back, looking at her with a bemused expression.

"Sis, I meant my phone, not your hand."

"Well, you didn't make it clear," Ye Mo retorted with mild annoyance, handing him the phone with a straight face before commenting, "Your buddy, with his arms around two girls, definitely doesn't seem like a good guy. Don't follow in his footsteps."

Lin Jie thought to himself that his first time in a bar had been with her—if he ever went down the wrong path, Ye Mo would be the one who led him there.

Still, he responded with a cheeky grin, "Yeah, he's clearly no good. But I do have a friend who's really rich and genuinely a good guy."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhao Yan sent another message, this time another video. Lin Jie opened it, and Ye Mo immediately leaned over to watch as well.

In the video, the guy was standing on the bar's dance platform, arms wrapped around a scantily clad girl as they swayed wildly to the music.

"Who's that?" Ye Mo asked, her curiosity piqued.

Lin Jie quickly closed the video, already having seen Zhao Yan's follow-up message.

Zhao Yan: Haha, look at Mo. Is he having a blast or what?

"I don't know him," Lin Jie replied.

Ye Mo cast a suspicious glance at Lin Jie.

Right, Lin Jie had no idea who this Mo Jia Le was.

The car soon arrived at Lin Jie's neighborhood. He hadn't expected Ye Mo to get out of the car with him, as he had planned to instruct the driver to take her home. Yet, there she was, standing beside him, a faint smile playing on her face as she looked around the neighborhood.

A sense of unease crept over Lin Jie.

"Sis, aren't you heading home? It's getting late," Lin Jie asked hesitantly.

Ye Mo gave him a sidelong glance. "What's the rush? It's still early."

"Well…" Lin Jie chuckled nervously, searching for a way to diffuse the tension, but Ye Mo cut straight to the chase.

"Little brother, where's your white moonlight?"

Lin Jie nearly stumbled, blinking in confusion as he stared at her. With a seemingly innocent smile, she asked, "What white moonlight?"

"The sweet girl you like, you know, the one named Su-something," Ye Mo said, making vague hand gestures in the air to illustrate.

"Sis, why do you want to see her?" Lin Jie asked, genuinely puzzled.

"I told you, didn't I? I just want to see the girl you like," Ye Mo said, smiling sweetly at him as she found a seat under the dim streetlights at the entrance. "Don't worry, I'm just looking. I won't talk to her."