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She tilted her head back, her clear eyes reflecting his image, a hint of shyness, but even more so of courage and determination.

"Xiang Wen," she called softly, tiptoeing in the flowing moonlight and closing her eyes.

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly with nervousness, her face was full of shyness, yet she still obediently raised her face, looking completely surrendering.

Mo Xiangwen's heart skipped a beat. He lowered his head and gently kissed her.

The moment their lips touched, Su Mengli's body trembled almost imperceptibly, but her arms wrapped around his waist and tightened slightly, awkwardly responding to the passionate kiss.

After the kiss, Su Mengli's cheeks were flushed, but she did not flinch. Instead, she gently buried her burning cheeks in his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

The sweet aroma of the birthday cake seemed to blend with some other, even sweeter and more delightful scent rising in the air.

Mo Xiangwen could clearly feel the softness and warmth of the body in his arms, as well as her slightly quickened heartbeat.

He lowered his head, gently brushing his chin against the top of her soft hair, and pulled her closer into his embrace.

Su Mengli did not resist; instead, she snuggled closer into his arms, silently conveying her consent and expectation.

Mo Xiangwen immediately understood and gently led her towards the bedroom.

He put his arm around her waist, and the two of them stumbled into the bedroom.

The soft bed supported their weight as they embraced, and Mo Xiangwen leaned down, his breath hot against hers.

In her dazed state, Su Mengli, with the last vestige of her consciousness, pressed against his chest, her voice barely a whisper: "Wait... the door..."

Mo Xiangwen paused, took a deep breath, propped himself up, and turned to look at the door with a mixture of frustration and helplessness.

This sight, however, froze him in place.

Three heads peeked out neatly from the bedroom door frame.

At the top, Yan Nuoya crossed her arms, her purple eyes silently conveying the words "As expected."

"See, I told you so."

Bai Shishi, in the middle, covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide, and whispered accusations: "Sister Mengli... ran away!"

Su Mengyao, who was at the bottom, didn't say anything, but glared at them angrily. Then, she grabbed Yan Nuoya and Bai Shishi with one hand each and squeezed into the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

She stood by the bed, looking down at her sister who was blushing and had buried her face in the blankets, and said, word by word:

"Sis, running away is... wrong!"

"I...I didn't run away," Su Mengli mumbled from under the covers. "It's just..."

"But what?" Su Mengli opened her mouth, only to be caught red-handed. The usually clever girl couldn't come up with a suitable excuse for a moment.

"But what?" Su Mengli opened her mouth, but the usually clever girl was caught red-handed, her cheeks burning hot, her mind blank, unable to find a suitable excuse.

Yan Nuoya smiled slightly, her slender white fingers gently resting on the edge of the blanket, as if to lift a corner: "But what? Miss Mengli, why don't you tell us?"

Bai Shishi had already snuggled up to Su Mengli with a grin, gently nudging her through the blanket with her little hand: "Sister Mengli, you sneaked away and lied, you're so naughty."

He leaned against the headboard, looking at Su Mengli, who was almost curled up in a ball, and the three girls surrounding the bed, each with their own thoughts and desires. He felt a chill run down his spine, but a strange sense of anticipation rose in his heart.

Seeing her sister's ostrich-like appearance, Su Mengyao's initial accusatory tone dissipated, replaced by a faint sense of embarrassment.

She sat down beside the bed, lowered her voice, and asked teasingly, "It's just... that you couldn't control yourself?"

Su Mengli, under the covers, visibly stiffened, her ears turning bright red, but she bit her lower lip and did not refute.

Yan Nuoya leaned against the door, her purple eyes meeting Mo Xiangwen's gaze, their eyes conveying a tenderness that only they could understand.

Just as this ambiguous silence was about to spread, Su Mengyao suddenly exchanged a glance with Bai Shishi, and the two of them exerted their strength from the left and right at the same time.

"Wait..." Before Mo Xiangwen could finish speaking, he was pushed backward and fell right next to Su Mengli.

Sensing the movement, Su Mengli immediately understood what they wanted to do and couldn't help but panic.

"and many more..."

But it's too late.

Their clothes were disheveled, their hair tangled, and the figures of the four people were indistinct under the warm light.

The moon moves, the flower shadows sway, and I wonder if a beautiful woman is coming.

The clouds are deep and the path is unknown, only the faint fragrance lingers.

For the first time, he understood the importance of physical exercise and moderation.

PS: Well, there will be more later, but not many. Let me release these two chapters for you to see first.

Chapter 272 The Grand Finale

Time flies like sand slipping through our fingers; the four years of youthful days at university have come to an end in the blink of an eye.

Their core studio still maintains its original five-person structure, but it has spawned a smaller team dedicated to specific game content modules.

Most of the team members are naturally junior students from H University, or their classmates and roommates who are familiar with each other.

As for senior students, they are not entirely absent.

Two of them were the same two people they had met briefly when they first arrived at the entrepreneurship guidance center.

Although the salary Mo Xiangwen offered at the time was only average for these high-achieving students, it was not considered generous.

However, the studio's relaxed and free working atmosphere, excellent project prospects, and the increasingly severe employment situation make their studio a very attractive option.

The biggest benefit is obvious: their workload has been significantly reduced, from having to do everything themselves to only needing to control the core ideas and the overall direction of the project.

With more free time available, they began to travel together regularly, while the game's development progressed more steadily and efficiently than before, thanks to the professional division of labor.

At the crossroads of graduation, the five seemed to have an unspoken understanding among themselves.

No one intended to continue reading.

Since we have chosen each other and a shared career, continuing to live together after graduation becomes the only and natural choice.

Of course, for Su Mengli, there was something even more important at this crucial juncture in her life—graduation...

The sun was shining brightly outside the Civil Affairs Bureau lobby.

Mo Xiangwen looked at Su Mengli beside him, who was holding the brand-new little red book and gently stroking the cover with her fingertips, seemingly lost in thought. He couldn't help but smile and lean closer, teasing her in a low voice: "Miss Mengli, you've already got the certificate. It's in black and white, there's no chance to go back on your word."

He paused, his tone teasing: "Oh no, now I should call her... Madam Mengli."

He originally planned to prepare a grand wedding for Su Mengli, and of course, he would also prepare a grand wedding for the other three.

However, to his surprise, the proposal was met with unanimous opposition from them.

Yan Nuoya and Bai Shishi's attitudes were within his expectations, but the first to object was actually Su Mengli, who had received traditional upbringing since childhood and should have been looking forward to a perfect wedding.

He still clearly remembers the expression and tone of Su Mengli when she brought up this matter that day.

Her gaze was calm and gentle, with a sense of clarity.

"Noah has made so many concessions for us, and Shishi has been patiently waiting for us all this time."

She smiled slightly, a smile devoid of any grievance: "How could I be so cunning as to monopolize that so-called 'unique'?"

She paused, then seemed a little lost in thought, but continued, "And, I don't know when it started, but I gradually realized that those formalities aren't actually that important."

At this moment, looking at Su Mengli, who was now rightfully his wife, Mo Xiangwen's eyes softened even more, filled with tenderness and love that almost overflowed.

Su Mengli also snapped out of her daze and met his deep gaze, a gentle smile naturally blooming on her face.

"No," she said softly. "Whether I have this notebook or not, I won't go back on my word."

She paused for a moment, as if she had unloaded some invisible burden, and then suddenly burst into laughter without warning.

That was no longer the usual, reserved smile, but a pure, bright, and unpretentious radiant smile, just like Bai Shishi's.

“This certificate,” Su Mengli waved the marriage certificate in her hand, a rare slyness in her smile, “is just to give my parents an explanation.”

She took Mo Xiangwen's arm and leaned closer, her voice full of ease and relief: "Yes, I stopped caring about this a long time ago. As long as we're together, anything is fine."

Mo Xiangwen was amused by her rare display of rebelliousness and couldn't help but tease her, "Madam Mengli, you've gone astray."

Su Mengli gave him a playful glare, her lips curving into a smile: "Isn't that what I learned from you guys?"

The two smiled at each other and walked out of the hall arm in arm.

Su Mengyao, Yan Nuoya, and Bai Shishi, who had been waiting outside, immediately came forward and naturally surrounded them.

Su Mengyao was the first to come over, curiously taking the little red book from her sister's hand. She opened it and examined it carefully. Looking at the names and photos side by side on the page, she blinked and said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, "This photo is really well taken! In fact, this could be used as my marriage certificate, which is perfectly fine."

Upon hearing this, Su Mengli didn't mind at all, and instead smiled gently, "Of course, you can if you like."

On the other side, Bai Shishi snatched the copy from Mo Xiangwen's hand first, and she and Yan Nuoya looked down at it together. Bai Shishi pointed to Mo Xiangwen's slightly restrained expression in the photo and giggled, "Xiangwen, you look so serious when you take pictures!"

Yan Nuoya glanced at them briefly before raising her purple eyes to look at Mo Xiangwen and Su Mengli, and smiled faintly.

As she said, she didn't care about this thing at all.

I thought she would be a little jealous when she saw this notebook, but now it seems like it's not a big deal.

Looking at the four smiling faces surrounding him, Mo Xiangwen felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and happiness.

"Alright, let's go home together." Mo Xiangwen said with a smile, "Next, we should plan our honeymoon trip. Wherever you want to go, we'll go together."

"Yay!" Bai Shishi cheered immediately and hugged his arm: "It's time for our honeymoon!"

Su Mengyao excitedly chimed in, grabbing the other side with a broad smile: "I want to do those RV trips like those content creators do, what do you guys think?"

Su Mengli and Yan Nuoya stood behind the three of them, exchanged a glance, and could see the smile and indifference in each other's eyes.

"Hmm, it's not very convenient." Mo Xiangwen thought for a moment and said with a smile, "After all, there are five people in our family, and most people only have four. What kind of RV would be suitable for our situation?"

"Hey, can we ask about custom-made? I just want to try it out, okay? Okay, okay~" Su Mengyao dragged Bai Shishi along, unwilling to give up: "What does Shishi think?"

"Me? As long as I'm with Xiang Wen, anything is fine."

"Alright, alright, since you want to, let's go ask."

"Great."

P.S.: There will be another chapter later, called "Author's Closing Remarks," where I might share some personal experiences and thoughts, or ask for your opinions on the group. If you don't want to wait, you can read it tomorrow.

Author's Closing Remarks!

It's finally over! *pat pat*

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who has supported me all this time.

Surprisingly, just when everyone thought I was going to cancel, it successfully came to an end.

Okay, everyone, you don't need to worry about me skipping this, and I don't need to worry about not being able to keep up.

Also, strictly speaking, it wasn't very smooth sailing.

After all, the writing of this part of the story before the ending wasn't going very smoothly, and I had to stop updating it many times, to the point that I was even embarrassed to send out leave requests.

Moreover, as you might expect, the plot has indeed sped up considerably, which is one of the reasons why I've been struggling to update lately. Of course, the main reason is that I'm nearing the end and don't know how to wrap things up.

After all, this is my second book.

Well, the first one is still listed at the top, but it's not on the shelves yet, so strictly speaking, this is still the first book.

I don't have much experience yet, and I've been learning as I go.

Oh no, it's an original work! That's incredible.

Fortunately, even though it was a bumpy ride, and even though I myself find it unbearable to look back on, I finally finished writing it.

I am truly grateful to everyone, whether you are quietly lurking or urging me to update, I am very grateful for your support.

Now that it's over, I dare to say some things.

After all, if I were still updating, everyone would probably think I was making excuses for not updating, or to put it bluntly, I was just crying my eyes out.

Although I haven't encountered any major illnesses this year, I've been constantly plagued by minor ailments. I've been to the hospital at least twenty or thirty times this year.

This is especially concentrated in the second half of the year after the book's release.

To be honest, this little bit of royalties isn't even enough to cover my medical expenses.

But when it comes to updating, I don't dare to rest too much.

Then, despite my illness, I kept writing until 3 or 4 a.m. every day to finish the updates, which made my health worse day by day. Recently, I've been having chest pains every day, and I'm so worried that I don't dare to stay up late to update anymore, hahaha.

Those of you who have been following my updates have noticed that my update schedule is quite irregular, which is unavoidable.

But if I don't update, everyone's worried I'll abandon the project.

Of course, I don't blame everyone. I'm happy that everyone is following my updates, and it's even my main motivation for updating.