058 Is She... a Failing Student? (Desperately begging for votes and reviews~~~)

Mu Qingcheng quickly composed herself and hurried downstairs. Yet her mind kept replaying that sentence Mu Qing had spoken: “Giving someone else a chance is also giving yourself a chance.”

She had no idea what exactly this second brother, who had never cared much for family affairs, had found out. But his words were clear enough; at the very least, Mu Qing had realized her reason for “coming home” was not entirely pure.

“It seems I’ll need Ye Zi to look into this,” she thought. With Si Qingchen’s “identity” still unresolved, now Mu Qing had appeared as well...

Mu Qingcheng sighed, feeling a headache coming on. How could this small Mu family bring her so much trouble? Truly... she had miscalculated.

“If only I’d listened to Ye Zi back then and just bought it outright—ah...” She pressed her fingers tiredly to her brow, descending the staircase slowly and casually removing her ever-present black-rimmed glasses.

She never needed servants trailing her, and with Steward Ji tending to guests in the side hall, she had no fear of being recognized. Or so she thought...

She had only reached halfway down the stairs when an unexpected voice sounded, stammering in surprise, “Qing... Mu Qingcheng, you...”

At that moment—

The girl coming down the stairs wore a simple pale pink dress, elegant and unadorned. Her long hair fell loosely down her back, and her feet were clad in soft white cotton slippers. In her hand, she held those oversized black-rimmed glasses, head slightly lowered, her bangs falling across her forehead and gently swaying with her movement, barely veiling a pair of clear eyes—

But no fringe could truly conceal the perfect lines of her face.

Her nose was straight and delicate, lips a soft red, and her complexion was soft and luminous, almost porcelain-like.

“Qin Beichu?”

Hearing the voice, Mu Qingcheng swiftly replaced her glasses and only then lifted her head.

She saw Qin Beichu standing at the foot of the stairs, staring at her in utter astonishment.

“Tsk, damn it!” Mu Qingcheng continued down as if nothing had happened, ignoring Qin Beichu’s expression, her gaze landing on the paper bag in his arms. She took the initiative to ask, “What are you carrying, Senior?”

“...”

“Senior?”

Qin Beichu was still lost in his thoughts. When Mu Qingcheng had appeared at the turn of the upstairs landing a moment ago, he felt as if he was seeing that fleeting vision of beauty in the stables all over again. It had been but an instant, yet it matched perfectly with the memory engraved in his mind.

“Mu Qingcheng... was she truly this beautiful?”

“Senior, if there’s nothing else, I’ll return to my room. Uncle Ji, would you please—”

“No, no, I do have something, I do.” Qin Beichu’s dazed look left Mu Qingcheng both helpless and impatient. Such a “good boy” ought to stay in his ivory tower—what business did he have here?

But before Mu Qingcheng could finish speaking, Qin Beichu finally recovered, awkwardly saying, “I came to bring you some materials.”

“Materials?”

“You’ll be taking the entrance exam in a few days, won’t you? Your class placement will depend on your score.” As he spoke, Qin Beichu handed her the bundle in his arms.

Mu Qingcheng took a glance—several thick books, all meticulously prepared.

“Does he... think I’m a hopeless student?” She found it amusing, though his intentions were good enough, so she offered a polite word of thanks. “Thank you, Senior. In that case, I’ll—”

But before she could finish, footsteps sounded at the door, followed by a familiar voice calling, “Excuse me, is Miss Mu at home?”