Xu Xiaoyue froze momentarily, completely baffled about where this man had suddenly appeared from.  

She instinctively took two steps back. Seeing this, Yan Ye, who had been flicking his bicycle bell, immediately darkened his expression.  

“Are you avoiding me?” The man’s dark eyes fixed intently on the petite woman before him as his deep voice sounded slowly.  

“N-no, of course not.” Xu Xiaoyue didn’t dare admit it, shaking her head vigorously like a rattle-drum.  

“Is that so? I seem to recall someone owes me a meal,” the man remarked casually.  

Xu Xiaoyue glanced around before climbing onto the bicycle’s rear seat.  

Her hands clutched cautiously at the seat beneath her as she tried hard to control her posture, determined not to lean awkwardly against him like last time.  

Her transparent thoughts might as well have been written on her face. Yan Ye snorted coldly, his long legs pushing off forcefully as the bicycle suddenly shot forward five or six meters.  

The momentum sent Xu Xiaoyue lurching forward, her head bumping against the man’s back as her hands automatically grabbed fistfuls of his clothes.  

“Hold on properly,” Yan Ye said without turning his head.  

Rubbing her nose, Xu Xiaoyue decided not to argue this time and obediently gripped his clothes with her small hands.  

As they rode further into increasingly deserted areas, a thread of unease wound through Xu Xiaoyue’s heart. Feigning nonchalance, she asked, “Where exactly are we going? If it gets dark before I return, my family will worry.”  

The corner of Yan Ye’s mouth lifted in a cold smile. “Only now you think to worry? Too late.”  

“Just waiting to sell you off.”  

The man’s final words drifted back to Xu Xiaoyue on the wind.  

“Trafficking women is illegal!”  

Staring at his broad back, even someone as slow as Xu Xiaoyue could tell he was deliberately teasing her.  

Yet after just a few encounters, Yan Ye had actually remembered her—something that never happened in the original novel at all.  

Lost in thought, she barely noticed when Yan Ye finally stopped in a modest alleyway, parking his bicycle to one side.  

“Let’s go.” Yan Ye looked down at Xu Xiaoyue beside him.  

Surveying their surroundings, Xu Xiaoyue noted how unlike the well-connected capital of future years, this era’s city was still full of winding traditional hutongs.  

After the incident with Wang Hao last time, walking through alleys always left her feeling unsettled.  

“Don’t walk so fast,” Xu Xiaoyue blurted out, clutching Yan Ye’s arm anxiously lest he disappear ahead of her.  

The moment her fingers touched the exposed skin of his forearm, her attention instantly shifted from the alley to him.  

His bronze skin taut over prominent veins, Xu Xiaoyue couldn’t resist giving an experimental squeeze. The firm muscle bulged powerfully beneath her fingers, the texture almost electric.  

Yan Ye’s musculature wasn’t exaggerated—just a lean, defined layer with sculpted lines that felt indescribably perfect to the touch.  

If not for her last shreds of rationality reminding her to maintain decorum, she might have explored other areas too.  

Before transmigrating into this novel, Xu Xiaoyue had been perpetually single, though the internet had granted her considerable…theoretical knowledge.  

They said to judge a man’s strength, first look at his middle finger, then his nose bridge and muscles—especially the inner thigh muscles.  

Yan Ye had just pedaled them up several steep slopes without even breathing heavily. His leg strength spoke for itself.  

As for his nose bridge—Xu Xiaoyue stole another glance—it stood tall and straight like a miniature mountain peak, so prominent it could probably serve as a slide in another era.  

Perfect strength, perfect physique, perfect core power.  

Lost in these thoughts, her cheeks grew warm.  

Yan Ye tilted his head slightly. He’d noticed the woman’s movements the moment she reached out.  

He hadn’t avoided her touch, but neither had he expected her to grow bold enough to actually squeeze his muscles.  

Looking down, he watched those slender, pale fingers—so delicate they might snap with slight pressure—kneading his bare arm with the enthusiasm of someone discovering new territory.  

“Let go when you’re done touching.”  

Only when his deep voice sounded in her ear did Xu Xiaoyue belatedly realize her hand still rested on his shoulder.  

“Oh! Sorry, sorry!”  

Even as she apologized, she withdrew her hand reluctantly, her expression clearly unwilling.  

Denied further exploration, Xu Xiaoyue stuck close to Yan Ye’s side, nearly plastering herself against him as they walked.  

Yan Ye suddenly recalled their previous encounter in the alleyway and slowed his pace to match hers.  

After five or six minutes of walking along the seemingly endless path, Xu Xiaoyue sighed and turned to the man beside her.  

“Where exactly are we going?”  

“Tired?” The man glanced sideways at her, his tone indifferent.  

Those dark eyes regarded her exactly as before, yet this time Xu Xiaoyue detected a hint of disdain.  

Fair enough. Compared to the hours he’d spent cycling with her in tow, her current exertion was negligible by his standards.  

Xu Xiaoyue stopped walking and declared petulantly, “I don’t want to go any further.”  

Now she understood why Yan Ye hadn’t ridden his bicycle up here—not only was it all uphill, but the path was strewn with untended gravel.  

Standing her ground, she secretly resolved that if he called her spoiled, she’d turn and leave immediately without another word!  

To her surprise, Yan Ye merely raised an eyebrow, surveyed their surroundings, and after a brief silence—as if resigned to her whims—knelt down.  

“Get on. We’re almost there.”  

Xu Xiaoyue deliberated for all of three seconds before decisively climbing onto his back.  

This marked the second time Yan Ye had carried her. Unlike their first encounter, she now knew exactly who this man was as she clung to him.  

Her arms looped around his neck, she peeked down at his profile—all she could see were the sharp lines of his jaw and the collarbones that appeared with each step.  

“Am I too heavy?”  

She still worried he might settle accounts with her later.  

Yan Ye’s hands supported her calves as he hitched her higher. “What misconception do you have about your malnourished frame?”  

Though his words dripped with disdain, he made no move to put her down.  

Even with her weight on his shoulders, his pace didn’t slacken—if anything, he walked faster than before.  

After about ten minutes, he knelt again to let her dismount.  

“We’re here.”  

Looking up, Xu Xiaoyue saw a plain wooden door, its surface pocked with holes that spoke of its age.  

Yan Ye stepped forward and knocked.  

With a creak, the door swung inward.