The dating reality show host just wanted to give up, but the rich girl fell for him.

The refreshing herbal scent was like a glass of chilled plum juice on a hot summer day, instantly soothing everyone's heat.

Jiang Ruoyun sniffed, and her feet moved to the fence of Building C as if they were not under her control.

All I could see was the courtyard.

Lin Mo wasn't brewing any medicinal soup.

There were a few bamboo scraps left over from repairing the window at his feet.

The seemingly dull fruit knife in his hand was now as precise as a scalpel.

"Hiss—hiss—"

With a slight friction sound.

He split a bamboo strip as thick as a finger into more than a dozen thin bamboo strips with his bare hands.

Each one is of uniform thickness and gleams with a jade-like luster in the sunlight.

This is not chopping wood.

This is a minimally invasive surgery performed on bamboo!

Followed by.

Lin Mo's fingers began to fly.

Pick, press, pierce, wrap.

Those originally hard bamboo strips seemed to transform into soft silk threads in his hands.

The movements were completely invisible.

It felt like a magic trick.

Less than five minutes.

A hollow sphere, no bigger than the palm of his hand and with an extremely complex structure, appeared in his palm.

The surface of the sphere is decorated with an extremely intricate "cross-weave" pattern, interspersed with several plum blossom patterns woven from bamboo.

So exquisite it takes your breath away.

But it's not over yet.

Lin Mo casually grabbed a handful of dried mugwort and mint leaves, as well as a few wild chrysanthemums he had picked from the back mountain.

Crush it.

Stuff it into that hollowed-out bamboo ball.

Then, thread a red string through the lug on the top of the ball.

And so, an antique-style "sachet ball" exuding a faint medicinal fragrance was completed.

【? ? ? ? ? ? 】

What is this? Bamboo weaving?

"I don't believe it! Was this made from that pile of broken bamboo?"

This craftsmanship... looks familiar! Doesn't it resemble the "thousand-thread knot" from the intangible cultural heritage documentary?

[Stop talking nonsense. Only masters can do that. Lin Mo is just making up a ball for fun, right?]

But...it's really beautiful! The plum blossom is even three-dimensional!

Jiang Ruoyun leaned against the fence, her eyes glued to the view.

As a designer (and part-time illustrator) with a keen eye for aesthetics, she knew all too well the value of this little ball.

That structural beauty, that pure, natural texture...

It's even more high-end than the 20,000 RMB Hermes charm hanging on her bag!

more importantly.

As the ball took shape, the pleasant smell became even stronger.

The few poisonous mosquitoes that had been buzzing around her ear seemed to have smelled something terrifying and instantly fled.

This is amazing!

"Lin...Lin Mo..."

Jiang Ruoyun couldn't help but speak, her voice soft:

"What is this?"

Lin Mo was finishing up and didn't even look up when he heard the sound:

"Mosquito repellent balls".

"It's a traditional method used in rural areas, with some mugwort and mint added to repel mosquitoes."

"The mosquitoes in this lousy place are too vicious; if we don't hang here for one night, they'll have to be carried away."

As he spoke, he took the delicate little ball, walked to the window, and hung it on the newly repaired window frame.

The wind blows.

The bamboo ball swayed gently.

An invisible fragrance instantly filled the entire small house.

The mosquitoes that had been hiding in the corner seemed to be drunk, stumbling and crashing into the wall before falling to the ground and twitching.

Physical mosquito repellent + chemical attack!

The effect is absolutely immediate!

"that……"

A sickeningly sweet voice suddenly broke in.

Then, Lin Chacha suddenly joined in.

She stared at the exquisite little ball, her eyes practically overflowing with greed.

Although she didn't understand what intangible cultural heritage was, she knew it was beautiful!

It can also repel mosquitoes!

She was almost bitten to death in Building A!

"Brother Lin Mo~"

Lin Chacha, clutching her bitten, red arm, said with a pitiful expression:

"I'm also terrified of mosquitoes. Look, I'm almost disfigured from all the bites."

"Could you... help me make one too?"

"Anyway, there's still so much bamboo waste here, you can't possibly use it all, right?"

As she spoke, she tried to morally blackmail Lin Mo with her large, expressive eyes.

After all, in front of the camera, a guy shouldn't refuse a girl's little request, right?

however.

Lin Mo merely glanced at her indifferently.

Then he pointed to a cardboard box in the corner of the yard.

"there."

Lin Chacha was taken aback: "What?"

"The powerful mosquito repellent provided by the production team."

Lin Mo's tone was sincere, even carrying a hint of concern that seemed to be "for your own good":

"That's powerful."

"It's supposedly chemically synthesized; it'll probably knock out even a rat, let alone a mosquito."

"Your bag is so big, my old remedy is too slow."

"Take my advice, just spray that. Half a bottle down and nothing will grow within a ten-mile radius. Absolutely safe."

Lin Chacha: "..."

It's so barren it's impossible for anything to grow!

I wanted to repel mosquitoes, not to marinate myself!

She had tried that mosquito repellent; the smell was so pungent it felt like inhaling poison gas, and after spraying it, she felt like she had been pulled out of a chemical plant.

No other sachet smells as good as Lin Mo's.

"But... I want something completely natural..."

Lin Chacha was not giving up and wanted to try again.

Lin Mo had already turned around and gone back into the house.

"That's all."

"We've run out of bamboo."

"Besides, this stuff is hard on the hands to knit, and the doctor said my fingers need to rest and I can't do fine work."

Done.

With a "bang".

The newly repaired antique-style window was half closed.

Only the delicate bamboo ball remained, swaying gently in the wind, as if mocking Lin Chacha's unrequited love.

Hahaha! Fingers need rest too!

Lin Mo is a treasure trove from head to toe; he needs to rest and recuperate!

[Lin Chacha: I want to get something for free. Lin Mo: Turn left after you leave and find the Chemical Engineering group.]

That was such a blunt rejection! They didn't even give me any face!

[To be honest, I really want that ball! I'd pay 500 yuan for it if I listed it on Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace app)!]

Five hundred? Who are you looking down on, upstairs? This kind of purely handmade bamboo weaving starts at least at a thousand!

Night falls.

Nights on an island should be romantic.

But for the guests in Building A, it was a nightmare.

Although Zhao Kuo somehow managed to get a few emergency lights, he managed to restore the lighting.

But the air conditioner is still broken.

The windows have to be kept open for ventilation.

This led to a disastrous consequence—the mosquito buffet opened.

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

"Ouch!"

The living room was filled with the sounds of slapping and screaming.

Everyone was holding one of those powerful mosquito repellents provided by the production team, and they were spraying it all over themselves.

The air was filled with a suffocating smell of cheap perfume and pesticides.

The fumes made people dizzy and lightheaded.

Jiang Ruoyun sat in the corner of the sofa, wrapped in a blanket, with only her eyes showing.

Even so, mosquitoes still manage to get in everywhere.

Her ankles, the backs of her hands, and even her neck were covered in large, red, swollen bumps.

itch.

An excruciating itch.

Moreover, the pungent smell of the mosquito repellent made her, someone with a sensitive sense of smell, feel like vomiting.

"I can't live like this anymore..."

Jiang Ruoyun clutched her hair in despair.

She looked through the floor-to-ceiling window at Building C, which was not far away.

There.

A peaceful and serene world.

Because Lin Mo fixed the window and used the principle of air pressure, there was a slight breeze in the room.

Through the crack in the window, you can see the warm, dim lamp.

Lin Mo was lying on a rattan chair, holding a book in his hand (though upside down), with a bamboo sachet hanging above his head, swaying gently in the wind.

There are no mosquitoes.

There is no heat.

There was only a faint scent of medicine and the sound of ocean waves.

It's like the difference between heaven and hell.

Jiang Ruoyun looked in that direction and bit her lip.

Then look at your own baggy clothes, and Zhao Kuo next to you, who is picking his toes and cursing mosquitoes.

She suddenly made a decision that went against her ancestors' wishes... no, against her sense of propriety.

"I went there for medical treatment."

"Yes, I went there to seek refuge."

"I did it to preserve the Jiang family bloodline from being sucked dry by mosquitoes."

Jiang Ruoyun frantically tried to mentally prepare herself.

then.

She suddenly stood up.

He grabbed the silk pillow from the sofa.

"Ruoyun? Where are you going?"

Zhao Kuo, who was swatting mosquitoes, paused for a moment and asked instinctively.

Jiang Ruoyun didn't turn her head; her voice trembled slightly, but her steps were unusually firm.

"I'm going to get some fresh air."

Breathable?

There are mosquitoes everywhere outside at this time of day, where can I go for some fresh air?

Zhao Kuo hadn't reacted yet.

Then I saw that slender figure in silk pajamas, clutching a pillow, heading straight for that dilapidated storage room in Building C like a brave warrior going to his execution.

……

Building C.

Lin Mo was getting ready to go to sleep.

Actually, he was already sleepy.

He was pretending to be asleep by holding the book, mainly to prevent those cameramen from rushing in and filming his sleeping face.

After all, for an artist who wants to give up, sleeping too well is also a sin.

Just as he was drifting off to sleep, about to fall asleep and play chess with the Duke of Zhou (a figure in Chinese mythology associated with dreams).

"Squeak—"

The wooden door, which had only been repaired not long ago, was gently pushed open.

A fragrance mixed with the sea breeze and... the scent of floral water wafted in.

Lin Mo woke up instantly.

He sat up alertly, clutching the blanket around himself.

"Who?"

"Robbing money is out of the question, and sexual assault... that's not allowed either!"

By the dim light.

He recognized the person at the door.

Jiang Ruoyun was wearing a light pink silk nightgown and tightly hugging a large pillow.

Her hair was a little messy, and she had two red spots on her face from recent mosquito bites.

He looked both disheveled and a bit...

Like an abandoned kitten.

She stood in the doorway, her toes curling nervously.

"that……"

Jiang Ruoyun took a deep breath, summoning the greatest courage she had ever had, and pulled the pillow closer to her chest, her eyes fixed on the sachet above Lin Mo's head:

"Lin Mo..."

"Please let me stay for one night."

"Name your price."

"As long as there are no mosquitoes... I'm willing to sleep on the floor!"