In the afternoon, Xu Xing was still angry and ignored Lu Che throughout two whole classes. However, even so, he didn’t stop Lu Che from going home with him.

After school, they waited at the school gate for Xu Dad.

Xu Xing directly told Lu Che, “Don’t provoke me today; I’m really upset. Even though you haven’t done anything wrong, I might take it out on you.”

This was a rather unreasonable statement.

Lu Che blinked innocently and obediently replied, “Okay.”

When Xu Xing got home, his annoyance towards Xu Yin was quickly replaced by surprise when he saw a pair of wireless Bluetooth sports earphones on his desk. He asked his mother, “Why are Xu Yin’s earphones here?”

Those earphones were bought by Xu Yin with her earnings from tutoring during the summer after the college entrance exams. Xu Xing liked them a lot, but Xu Yin had previously refused to lend them to him, so it was unexpected to find them in his room.

Xu Xing asked Xu Yin on WeChat, “What’s going on? Did you forget to take your earphones?”

A few minutes later, Xu Yin replied: “I don’t want them anymore; you can have them.”

Xu Xing: “…”

Xu Xing’s annoyance vanished instantly, and he suddenly felt that having an older sister who could give him something nice was quite good.

However, Xu Yin didn’t actually dislike the earphones; it was just that compared to her little brother, who rushed to the store to buy her “white chocolate candies,” they were clearly less important.

Xu Yin remembered that day when Xu Xing had gone out and took an entire class to return, only to say, “I went to buy them after finishing the early test paper in the classroom.”

Xu Xing happened to return with the candies just when class was over, so Xu Yin didn’t ask any further.

Feeling pleased, Xu Xing put on the earphones to enjoy the sound quality, completely forgetting to lift the ban on Lu Che.

Lu Che proved the weight of his “okay” through his actions. From the time they got home until he climbed into bed at eleven-thirty, Lu Che didn’t approach Xu Xing to tease him.

When the night light by the bed was turned off, the entire bedroom was swallowed by darkness.

It was pitch black and silent.

Xu Xing lay on his back with his eyes closed, completely still. After lying there for quite some time without hearing any sounds from beside him, he began to suspect that Lu Che had already fallen asleep.

But—

Lu Che hadn’t kissed him tonight.

Xu Xing couldn’t help but frown, feeling restless and conflicted: Was Lu Che going to kiss him or not? Keeping him in suspense was making it hard for him to fall asleep!

In the silence, Xu Xing grew anxious, always feeling like “Lu Che would kiss him any second now,” but that feeling was repeatedly swallowed by the quiet of the room.

Could it be that Lu Che was really asleep?

After waiting silently for a while, Xu Xing, unable to bear it any longer, quietly tossed his arm, which was resting outside the blanket, toward Lu Che—

His arm rested lightly on Lu Che’s chest.

Xu Xing just wanted to confirm whether Lu Che was awake or not.

Then, he felt the person next to him shift; the mattress sank slightly, and he heard soft rustling sounds. A warm hand grasped his wrist and then laid his arm back flat at his side.

Xu Xing thought that Lu Che must have turned to face him on the bed.

At that moment, a sigh suddenly broke the silence in the dark—

“Ah…”

Xu Xing didn’t understand why Lu Che sighed, but he soon heard Lu Che mumbling to himself: “I promised not to provoke him today; I can’t steal a kiss.”

Xu Xing: “…”

Xu Xing’s first reaction was that Lu Che was silly; it was already past midnight, so it was technically the next day.

After a while, Xu Xing rolled over toward Lu Che. He was still lying with his eyes closed, breathing evenly, the edge of his cheek pressing slightly into the pillow, his lips slightly parted.

The two of them lay face-to-face on the bed, less than half an arm’s length apart, and their breaths seemed to mingle.

Xu Xing turned over again and fell silent.

Lu Che looked intently at his face, silent, but the corners of his lips were already curling up.

Then—

Xu Xing’s head, resting on the edge of the pillow, suddenly tilted and fell against Lu Che’s shoulder due to a shift in balance.

Suppressing a smile, Lu Che gently lifted Xu Xing’s cheek, guiding him back onto the pillow.

Xu Xing’s series of small movements—flinging his arm and rolling over—almost made it seem like he wanted to grab Lu Che by the collar and shout: “Hurry up and kiss me!”

Lu Che was already itching to kiss him and no longer teased him deliberately. He tenderly stroked Xu Xing’s face, propped himself up with one arm, and leaned down to kiss Xu Xing’s lips, softly and intimately, savoring the kiss with gentle licks and nibbles.

This gentle and lingering kiss spread to Xu Xing’s chin and neck. Lu Che could clearly feel Xu Xing shrink his shoulders, and the collarbone at his neck became even more prominent—perhaps it was ticklish, perhaps it was a sign of resistance, or maybe it was passion.

Lu Che’s soft lips landed on Xu Xing’s ear, his straight nose gently rubbing against his hair, and the last kiss, mixed with a deep, sultry whisper, landed on Xu Xing’s ear: “Wuli^[1]Internet slang means Our, it was adapted in korean by chinese netizen. Xingxing, when will you wake up~”

Xu Xing huddled his neck and groggily burrowed into the blankets, sleeping deeply.

The next morning, around nine.

His Dad and Mom had taken Xu Yin to visit their grandmother the day before. The area near the sea had cheap fish and shrimp, and Grandma would buy shrimp to steam and dry herself, making dried shrimp. Every time his Motehr went back to her hometown, she brought back a large jar.

The dried shrimp were crunchy, and the meat had a chewy texture, which Xu Xing loved to eat.

Xu Xing squatted in front of the trash can next to his desk, holding a few large sea shrimp in his hand. With a gentle squeeze of his fingers, the crispy shrimp shell crumbled, and he peeled off the abdomen, pinching off the shrimp head and tail, stuffing it into his mouth and savoring it more with each bite.

His Mom was busy taking Xu Yin’s blanket outside to dry. As she passed by Xu Xing’s bedroom door, she glanced in and said, “Xingxing, don’t just eat for yourself; peel a few shrimp for Lu Che, too.”

Xu Xing replied, “Oh.”

After his Mom left, Xu Xing turned around and saw Lu Che sitting at the foot of his bed, looking at a test paper, looking like a diligent and studious student.

Lu Che glanced up from the test paper and gave Xu Xing a flirtatious wink.

“…”

Xu Xing squeezed the shrimp too hard, crushing the shell. He asked Lu Che with a face of disdain, “Do you want some?”

Lu Che didn’t respond but instead indicated with his actions—leaning forward and opening his mouth toward Xu Xing.

Xu Xing felt awkward and deliberately said, “I didn’t wash my hands just now.”

Lu Che smiled: “It’s okay; I’ll help you clean them~”

“…”

Xu Xing directly shoved the peeled shrimp into Lu Che’s mouth, effectively sealing it.

After peeling the other two large shrimp, he ate one for himself and stuffed another into Lu Che’s mouth. He clapped his hands, intending to go wash up, but Lu Che kept shouting that he wanted to eat more.

Xu Xing shot him an annoyed glance: “Don’t you have hands?” Nevertheless, he took a few more large shrimp, peeled them all, and fed them to Lu Che.

As Xu Xing went out to wash his hands, he heard his parents arguing on the balcony and decided to step outside to check.

His Mom was drying blankets while his Dad was fussing with the flowers and plants. His Mom was grumbling: “I really don’t like hearing those relatives of your aunt talk. How can they ‘urge’ Xu Yin to find a rich boyfriend in college right away? They even say that girls don’t need a high education and shouldn’t go for graduate studies; they should just get married after graduating.”

His father replied, “But you can’t bring up the fact that her daughter-in-law is separating on purpose.” That was too harsh.

His Mom shot back, “She can’t stand Xu Yin wearing makeup and lipstick, meddling in everything, even concerning my daughter! Instead of doing that, she should take care of her own in-law problems.”

Xu Xing: “…”

When Xu Yin had just learned to put on makeup during the summer vacation, their mom had even scolded her in front of her: “Wear less makeup; look at how your big face looks so vibrant!”

Their Mom was warm and welcoming, but her bottom line was that she couldn’t tolerate anyone saying anything bad about her children.

Seeing Xu Xing, his mother added, “The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship is the hardest to navigate. The mother-in-law always wants to show off. When my son marries, I’ll only praise, never criticize.”

Xu Xing: “… Haha.”

His Dad: “I’ll remember that for you.”

Xu Xing: “…”

Not wanting to get involved in his parents’ conversation, Xu Xing turned and went back to his bedroom. He glanced at Lu Che sitting at the foot of the bed, who smiled at him and said, “Class monitor, I’ve realized we’re quite in sync! Look at this geometry proof; our thought processes are always exactly the same~”

Lu Che had been flipping through Xu Xing’s test paper folder all morning and had unexpectedly discovered this commonality.

Xu Xing: “…”

He was clearly bored.

After Xu Xing and Lu Che had lunch at home, Lu Che was set to leave at four. Xu Xing said, “Wait, let’s go together.”

Lu Che was surprised.

Xu Dad had gone to play table tennis and hadn’t returned yet, so Xu Xing told his Mom that he wanted to head back to school early. Then he packed his bag and went out with Lu Che.

It was still early, so they waited for the bus to school.

The bus from Xu Xing’s home to the school also served as a route connecting the suburban university to the city. Being a weekend, many university students were out, and the bus was crowded. Xu Xing and Lu Che stood in the standing area by the window on the right. Lu Che leaned against the window, while Xu Xing held onto a strap in front of him.

Lu Che pointed to the handrail behind him and said to Xu Xing, “Class monitor, grab onto this! Let me experience the feeling of blushing and heart racing when you push me against the wall~”

“…”

Xu Xing replied, “Get lost.”

Lu Che sighed.

At that moment, the bus took a sharp turn, and all the standing passengers leaned to the left. Xu Xing leaned back, only to see Lu Che leaning forward with the others. He raised his hand to grab the fixed strap, and as Xu Xing straightened up, he crashed right into Lu Che’s arms.

They were roughly the same height, with Xu Xing being slightly shorter, their chests pressed together and their ears brushing against each other. Lu Che whispered in his ear, “Class monitor, are you blushing and heart racing?”

Xu Xing, exasperated, pushed him away, letting go of the strap.

Unbeknownst to him—the bus driver seemed to have a penchant for sudden turns. Suddenly, another sharp turn came, and Xu Xing, caught off guard, was pushed by the passenger behind him, falling straight into Lu Che’s embrace.

In a panic, Xu Xing spread his arms to grab onto the horizontal bar behind Lu Che—

And Lu Che found himself trapped in Xu Xing’s embrace.

Lu Che immediately put on a dramatic expression, clutching his chest. Leaning forward, he whispered into Xu Xing’s ear in a low, alluring voice, declaring in a teasing tone, “Oh, I’ve fallen in love with you again~”

“…”

Xu Xing’s ears flushed red from the warm breath Lu Che blew into them as he spoke.