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Xiao Yudie’s lips were soft and moist to the touch.
Zhuang Zi’ang’s mind buzzed, falling into a blank state as blood rushed through his veins, his heart pounding as if it were about to leap out of his chest.
In those brief three seconds, the moment was enough to be etched into his memory.
She took my first kiss!
Su Yudie, however, was completely unaware and released her grip on Zhuang Zi’ang’s neck.
Zhuang Zi’ang lifted his head, his cheeks burning.
Staring at the girl’s delicate face, it felt like a dream.
He tucked Su Yudie in, covering her with the blanket, and hurriedly fled the room.
It was clearly her initiative, yet he felt as if he’d done something wrong.
Lying on the sofa, Zhuang Zi’ang tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep for a long time.
The fleeting sensation from those three seconds kept replaying in his mind.
He decided to pull out his Bluetooth earbuds and turned on some music, trying to calm himself down.
“I’m afraid you’ll fly far away, afraid you’ll leave me.
Even more afraid you’ll stay here forever.
Every tear flows toward you,
Reversing into the depths of the sky.”
…
As the melancholic melody played, the feeling of drunkenness gradually washed over him like the sea.
Zhuang Zi’ang drifted into slumber, with Xiao Yudie as the star of his dreams.
The scenes were blush-inducing and heart-pounding, indescribable.
Adding just one more sentence would risk censorship (and probably no one would want to read it anyway, so let’s skip it).
He didn’t know how long it had been, but Zhuang Zi’ang suddenly felt an itch in his nose and let out a loud sneeze.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Su Yudie’s radiant smile.
She was holding a feather she must have found somewhere and giggling away.
“You’re teasing me again,” Zhuang Zi’ang rubbed his nose.
“You lazy pig, the sun is almost setting and you’re still asleep,” Su Yudie stuck out her tongue at him.
Suddenly, Zhuang Zi’ang felt something was off, and he turned beet red with embarrassment.
He quickly got up, dashed into the bedroom, and locked the door behind him.
First, he needed to hide the evidence and would wash up later.
After several minutes, Zhuang Zi’ang finally emerged.
Su Yudie noticed that he seemed to have changed his pants.
“Zhuang Zi’ang, you didn’t take advantage of me while I was drunk, did you?”
“You don’t remember?” Zhuang Zi’ang exclaimed in surprise.
“I don’t remember! All I know is that we were at the barbecue restaurant, and then I opened my eyes in your bed,” Su Yudie said with an innocent expression.
Zhuang Zi’ang felt wronged.
How could there be someone like her, taking advantage of alcohol to steal a first kiss and then turning the tables on him?
He had no choice but to stand his ground and say, “You reek of alcohol; who would want to take advantage of you?”
“But you took off my shoes.”
“What was I supposed to do? If I didn’t, you’d get my bed dirty!”
Su Yudie thought this made sense, so she decided not to pursue it further.
However, recalling the way Zhuang Zi’ang had looked at her small feet yesterday still felt a bit strange.
In the round fish tank on the table, two red goldfish swam freely.
Su Yudie picked up some fish food nearby and tossed a few flakes into the water.
Resting her chin on her hand and watching the fish eat, she said enviously, “Big Dummy, look how happy they are. Not like you at all.”
“You’re not a fish; how would you know they’re happy?” Zhuang Zi’ang retorted.
“You’re not me; how would you know I don’t know the happiness of fish?” Su Yudie immediately countered.
“You’re not me; how would you know I don’t know you don’t know the happiness of fish?”
Zhuang Zi’ang’s statement left Su Yudie trying to process it for a long time, almost frying her CPU.
She reached out and squeezed Zhuang Zi’ang’s arm hard. “You’re such a smart aleck!”
Zhuang Zi’ang cried out in pain.
As expected, you can’t reason with girls.
“Zhuang Zi’ang, I need to go back.” Su Yudie glanced out the window, noticing the twilight sky.
“Do you really have to go back so early? I could treat you to dinner,” Zhuang Zi’ang tried to persuade her.
“No, I have to catch the 6:10 bus.” Su Yudie’s eyes showed reluctance, but she had to return before dark.
Zhuang Zi’ang felt a little helpless, guessing that her family was probably very strict.
It wasn’t safe for a girl to be out too late.
The two arrived at the bus stop, sat on a bench, and ate oden while waiting for the No. 19 bus.
Although Zhuang Zi’ang was reluctant to let her go, the bus, uncaring of his feelings, turned the corner and came into view.
“Let me have one more bite.” Su Yudie quickly swallowed the ball of oden in her mouth and took another bite of the fish tofu.
“Will you come again tomorrow?” Zhuang Zi’ang hurriedly asked.
“What fun things are there to do tomorrow?” Su Yudie blinked her bright eyes.
“We could go to the library and read joke books.”
Zhuang Zi’ang blurted it out, then realized how awful the idea was.
Joke books, even with phonetic annotations—so childish.
It was the weekend, so there weren’t many people waiting for the bus.
As soon as the bus doors opened, Su Yudie stepped onto it.
Watching her slender back disappear, Zhuang Zi’ang felt a deep sense of loss. He should have suggested a more fun place.
Just as the bus doors were closing, the girl suddenly turned around.
“Okay, see you tomorrow morning at the library entrance.”
The vehicle started, carrying the girl away.
Zhuang Zi’ang spun around in place, happy as a fool, eagerly anticipating tomorrow.
Even though it meant he was one step closer to death.
On his way back, Zhuang Zi’ang ate a bowl of beef noodles for dinner and then bought a magazine to pass the long night.
Around eight o’clock, he sent Xiao Yudie a message.
“What do you want to eat tomorrow morning?”
Just like last time, he received no reply.
After a long while, his phone suddenly rang loudly.
He quickly picked it up; it was a video call from Li Huangxuan.
“Son, is it you?”
Li Huang Xuan’s face on the screen was full of displeasure. “From the sound of your voice, you seem pretty disappointed.”
Zhuang Zi’ang managed a smile. “No, what about you? Where did you go to play this weekend?”
“Play? Don’t you know? My mom signed me up for tutoring,” Li Huang Xuan complained.
He then proceeded to vent his frustrations to Zhuang Zi’ang about how torturous the tutoring sessions were.
Sitting among a bunch of academic overachievers nearly drove him to distraction.
Zhuang Zi’ang comforted him for a while before he finally calmed down a bit.
“I really want to find someone to date,” Li Huang Xuan suddenly asked, “Son, have you ever kissed a girl?”
“What? I’ve never dated anyone either. Kissed…kissed who?” Zhuang Zi’ang felt a little guilty, stammering his reply.
“What do you think a girl’s lips taste like? Strawberry?” Li Huang Xuan wondered curiously.
“No, I think it tastes like beer,” Zhuang Zi’ang said without hesitation.
“Are you crazy? How could a girl’s lips taste like beer?” Li Huang Xuan gave him a scornful look.
“Forget it, there’s no point in telling you. You’ve never kissed anyone anyway.”
After a while of rambling on various topics, they ended the call.
Zhuang Zi’ang recalled the unforgettable three seconds from the afternoon and reaffirmed that a girl’s lips really did taste like beer.
Suddenly, he remembered that there was still something he couldn’t let anyone see hidden in the closet.
He quickly went to the bathroom, poured in half a bag of detergent, and scrubbed frantically.
The memory of his dream still made his heart race and his face flush.