Chapter 176: Daring Not to Enter

"Bai Fanhao, don't tell me you're getting cold feet right at my front door!"

Seeing Bai Fanhao hesitating outside the door, Mu Qingxi asked with surprise.

Bai Fanhao glanced at the door right in front of him and said, "No."

"Really? Then why are you hesitating instead of going in?"

Mu Qingxi remained firm in her conviction that Bai Fanhao was simply suffering from stage fright and didn't dare to go in.

She took a few steps over to Bai Fanhao, who had fallen behind her, and asked, "Don't you want to go in?"

"I do," Bai Fanhao replied without hesitation.

Mu Qingxi smiled, walked up behind Bai Fanhao, propped her arm against his back, and pushed him forward.

"Hurry up and move. You're already at the front door, what's the point of not going in now?"

Looking hesitant, Bai Fanhao stammered, "Look, I'm coming to your house, and well... I didn't bring anything at all—"

"What were you hoping to bring then!" Mu Qingxi rolled her eyes at him and continued to push him forward. "Just hurry up, stop babbling."

Shoving and pushing their way through the front door, Bai Fanhao immediately felt a sense of constraint. Entering the house without bringing a single thing made him genuinely embarrassed!

"Dad, Mom, we're back!"

Mu Qingxi shouted into the house while changing her shoes.

She placed a pair of slippers down for Bai Fanhao and said, "Mr. Bai, welcome to my humble abode for the very first time. Please excuse its crude simplicity."

Humble abode? Crude simplicity?

Bai Fanhao looked at the house presented before his eyes and shot a sideways glance. "Xiaoxi, if this is a humble abode, then my house must be a thatched shack."

Mu Qingxi retorted, "Why don't you just call it an outhouse?"

"Would you live in an outhouse? If you would, then I suppose it is an outhouse." With that, Bai Fanhao grinned widely.

"Hahaha, hahaha!" Mu Yuncheng's hearty laughter echoed out.

Seeing Mu Yuncheng in such a rare and cheerful mood, Mu Qingxi asked, "Dad, what's got you so happy?"

"Naturally it's because my precious daughter is back home, that's why I'm happy!" Mu Yuncheng pinched Mu Qingxi's cheek affectionately.

Bai Fanhao smiled and nodded, "Hello, Uncle Mu."

"Mm, come on in and take a seat. Dinner will be served shortly," Mu Yuncheng said.

As they walked into the living room, Mu Qingxi set down the things she was carrying and then reached out to take the items from Bai Fanhao's hands to put them aside.

Linking her arm through Mu Yuncheng's, she said, "Dad, Fanhao bought all of these things for you and Mom."

Bai Fanhao hastily intervened, "Xiaoxi."

"What? You're the one who bought them in the first place. Well, of course, I was just in charge of picking them out," Mu Qingxi said with a smile.

Bai Fanhao also smiled, "But..."

Watching the two of them, Mu Yuncheng smiled and said, "Stop arguing, both of you. It doesn't matter what the gifts are; as long as you treat Xiaoxi well, that's all that matters."

With great earnestness and confidence, Bai Fanhao said, "Don't worry, Uncle."

At that moment, Shen Yali emerged from the kitchen carrying dishes and placed them on the dining table one by one.

She called out to the people standing in the living room, "Wash your hands and come eat."

Catching a drifting scent, Mu Qingxi closed her eyes and sniffed deeply, "Wow... It smells so good!"

"The smell of pan-fried fish!"

Mu Qingxi's blissful exclamation reached the ears of Mu Qingyang, who had just stepped through the front door.

Mu Qingyang hurriedly changed his shoes, rushed inside, and yelled, "Pan-fried fish? I want some!"

"Get lost, there's none for you," Mu Qingxi said, grabbing Mu Qingyang by the arm as he tried to sprint toward the dining room.

Stumbling slightly from the sudden pull, Mu Qingyang turned his head back.

Recognizing that the person who grabbed him was Mu Qingxi, he asked in confusion, "Huh? Sis, when did you get back?"