After a hot deep kiss, the two of them looked at each other while panting. Their faces were flushed and hot. Jing Ran’s irregular breathing sprinkled hot air on Jing Li’s face.

Jing Li felt a little embarrassed looking at Jing Ran’s new look. After all, he had become so handsome that it was easy to make others blush and their heart race.

Jing Li shyly lowered her head and said, “Let’s go eat, or else the food will get cold.”

“Okay.”

Jing Ran still held Jing Li and was reluctant to let go. He really wanted to hold her like this forever.
Suddenly, Jing Li’s expression stiffened, and she pushed Jing Ran away and quickly slipped into the bathroom, locking the door.

Jing Ran couldn’t understand what was happening and knocked on the bathroom door, “Lili, what’s wrong?”

After a few seconds, Jing Li came out with a look of disappointment, “I want to go downstairs to buy something.”

With that, Jing Li walked to the living room, picked up her small handbag, and went to the entrance to put on her shoes, preparing to leave.

Jing Ran thought that he had done something to upset her. Was it because he wasn’t skilled enough during the kiss and accidentally bit her tongue? Or did his hand accidentally slip and pinch her buttocks, causing her to slap his hand with force and retreat to her waist…

He thought Jing Li was making an excuse to leave, so he went over, held her back, and asked, “What do you want to buy? Will you come back?”

Jing Li listened to Jing Ran’s words, feeling speechless. She said, “I got my period, I need to go downstairs and buy sanitary pads.”

Jing Ran had heard of this thing called “period” mentioned in textbooks before, but he had never seen it. Occasionally, he would hear his roommates complain that women are animals who bleed for seven days and don’t die. They warned not to provoke women during their period, or else the consequences would be dire.

“I’ll help you buy it,” Jing Ran offered. There were no convenience stores on this street; they were located in the alleys. Jing Li was not a local, and he was worried that she wouldn’t be able to find the store.

“Oh, okay.” Jing Li felt relieved when Jing Ran offered to go buy the pads. After all, she was a bit afraid that by the time she bought them, her pants would already be dirty, which would be quite embarrassing to walk around with.

Having heard many jokes about guys buying sanitary pads for their girlfriends, Jing Li found two pictures of sanitary pads online and sent them to Jing Ran on WeChat, saying, “Just buy these two packs.”

“Okay, then you have your meal first,” Jing Ran instructed before leaving.

Jing Li didn’t eat first. How could she leisurely sit and have a meal in this situation?

About ten minutes later, Jing Ran returned with a black plastic bag and handed it to Jing Li. Jing Li immediately went to the bathroom to change before feeling comfortable enough to sit down and eat.

After finishing their meal, Jing Li took a bath and changed into her home clothes. She sat on the couch and watched TV while Jing Ran, as usual, sat next to her and read his book, seemingly undisturbed by the outside world.

During the commercial break, Jing Li lay bored on the couch, resting her head on Jing Ran’s thigh. Jing Ran looked at her with a smile, gently stroking her bangs away from her forehead, and continued reading.

Jing Li looked at Jing Ran, who had just shown a gentle and handsome expression, and couldn’t help but blush. She blinked as she observed Jing Ran more closely, realizing that she hadn’t paid much attention to his features since she accidentally discovered yesterday that he was a handsome guy. After all, staring at someone’s face like that all the time would be a bit embarrassing.

Jing Ran focused on reading and noticed that Jing Li had been staring at him. In the afternoon, Jing Ran’s eyebrows were messy, so Jing Li asked the people at the hair salon to groom his eyebrows. He even dyed them chestnut brown, matching his hair. With long eyelashes, in the afternoon, when she put the contact lenses in front of his eyes, he kept blinking, and his long lashes swept the lenses off onto the glass countertop. Jing Li had to clean them several times.

He had large almond-shaped eyes that were bright and lively, with shallow creases beneath them. His nose was high, but it seemed a bit crooked, possibly from wearing heavy glasses before. Jing Li hoped that tomorrow, when he switched to a lighter pair of glasses, it would improve.

And then there were his thin cherry lips. Honestly, they did look quite feminine, slightly red and tender, resembling jelly. Jing Li had noticed this detail before.

The taste she had experienced… it was actually quite nice.

As she thought about this, Jing Li couldn’t help but blush.

“Um…”

Jing Ran heard Jing Li’s faint moan and looked down to see his girlfriend clutching her stomach, curled up.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.

Jing Li weakly replied, “Period pain…”

Jing Ran shifted slightly, preparing to stand up. “Then let me go get you a cup of hot water.”

Jing Li: “…”

Jing Li reached out and pulled Jing Ran’s hand, saying, “Drinking hot water doesn’t work.”

Jing Ran was puzzled, “Doesn’t work? But I overheard a roommate chatting on WeChat, and his girlfriend said she had menstrual cramps, and he told her to drink more hot water.”

“…Then is he still with that girlfriend?”

Jing Ran replied seriously, “No, they broke up after just one week, and he hasn’t found a girlfriend since then.”

“Well, now I know why he’s been single.”

“What’s the reason?”

Jing Li was in too much pain to continue chatting and said, “Can you please go to the pharmacy and buy some warming patches for me, as well as some red sugar concoction?”

Jing Ran asked, “Is there a specific brand?”

“No, just ask someone at the pharmacy. Different pharmacies sell different brands.”

After about ten minutes, Jing Ran returned from the pharmacy, feeling that being a woman is really not easy, especially when preparing so many things during menstruation. Following Jing Li’s instructions, Jing Ran boiled water in the kitchen and made the red sugar concoction. When he brought it out, he saw Jing Li sitting on a chair, lifting her shirt to reveal a flat abdomen and applying a warming patch.

Jing Ran felt a bit awkward, holding the hot red sugar water and placing it on the coffee table in front of the chair, saying, “It’s still hot, wait a bit before drinking.”

“Okay.”

Jing Ran stared at Jing Li as she rubbed her stomach and asked, “Is it still hurting?”

Jing Li nodded, “Mhmm.”

“Can I massage it for you? Would that be okay?”

The young girl shyly pursed her lips and agreed, “Okay.”

Jing Ran sat on the chair and spread his legs, allowing Jing Li to sit in front of him so she could watch TV comfortably. He hugged her from behind and massaged her stomach through their clothes.

Jing Ran rested his chin on Jing Li’s shoulder, and his warm breath sprayed onto her exposed skin, such as her neck or shoulder. His embrace was warm and made her feel safe.

Jing Li felt that their posture was somewhat suggestive, like they were doing something inappropriate.

Being alone together in a room, it was inevitable for their minds to wander in that direction. However, Jing Li felt that at this stage, it was not suitable for her and Jing Ran to engage in such activities. Although she had been exposed to foreign culture for the first half of her life, deep down she was quite conservative. At the very least, she believed they should wait until their relationship was stable and they were certain of marriage.

Although she had thoughts of marrying the prince charming, she wasn’t sure if it was just the passion of being in love. Only time would prove whether they truly loved each other and were destined to hold hands for a lifetime.

Jing Li turned her face and rubbed her cheek against his cheek a few times.

Jing Ran felt a bit ticklish and inexplicably heated. He tilted his head and looked at Jing Li, asking, “What’s the matter?”

“I like you!”

Unexpected confession, Jing Ran hesitated shyly and replied, “I like you too.” Then, Jing Ran leaned her face against his cheek and continued to rub her belly.

*
On a weekend day, Jing Li lay on the bed, looking as if she were suffering. Originally, Jing Ran planned to take Jing Li home to meet his parents over the weekend. However, due to some minor issues that occurred this week, Jing Ran hadn’t had a chance to inform his parents in advance about having a girlfriend and bringing her home to meet them. Now, because Jing Li was experiencing menstrual pain and couldn’t go out, the plan to meet his parents this week was canceled.

In the morning, Jing Ran went out to pick up his glasses and buy groceries. His grandmother said Jing Li was particularly thin and needed to nourish her body. However, Jing Li didn’t like eating meat. Jing Ran went to the nearby seafood market and bought two yellow croakers, planning to steam them. They were fresh, sweet, and not greasy.

Jing Ran returned home carrying a bunch of ingredients, and Jing Li had already come out of the bedroom and was lying on the couch with a pillow. However, her face still looked pale.

Jing Ran walked over to her and asked, “Why aren’t you resting in the bedroom?”

“I’ve been in the room for too long, so I wanted to change places to lie down,” Jing Li weakly replied. Seeing that Jing Ran had bought a lot of groceries, she said, “Why did you buy so much food? The two of us can’t finish it in two days!”

Jing Ran explained, “It’s not that I wanted to buy so much. I wanted to buy one pound of vegetables, but the lady insisted on giving me an extra pound. When I bought one carrot, she gave me another one… I used to buy less than what I paid for from her before. I wonder why she’s giving me more today? Do you think her conscience was pricking her, so she decided to turn over a new leaf and become a good vegetable vendor?”

Jing Li remained silent.

Jing Li remembered a popular question on the internet: “What is it like to be good-looking?”

“Just feel that this world is kind, and everyone is friendly.”

Is it referring to someone like Little prince?

How can she be like that? She is recognized as the campus beauty by the people in the department, and she feels the malice of the world every day.

For example, when she passed by the basketball court, a foolish boy thought that pretending to accidentally hit her head with a basketball would make him successful in approaching her.

Indeed, it’s only useful for boys to be good-looking, and all the older ladies are infatuated with them.

In this way, Jing Li spent a weekend at home in a state of despair, until Grandma returned on Sunday afternoon.

Jing Li likes to be held by Jing Ran while watching TV. Jing Ran originally wanted to read, but it’s inconvenient to read while holding Jing Li. So he held Jing Li and watched a funny variety show together.

Grandma came back from the countryside, carrying her luggage and local specialties, and opened the door to enter the house. Seeing Jing Li cuddling with a strange boy, laughing and sitting together watching TV, and no sign of Jing Ran in the house.

Grandma thought that Jing Li was cheating on Jing Ran, openly bringing a boy to her house, and shouted, “What are you doing?”

The couple was so engrossed in watching TV that they didn’t notice Grandma had already entered the house. They also felt that their sitting posture in the eyes of the elders was somewhat improper, so they quickly stood up.

Jing Li called out, “Grandma.”

Grandmother was angry, saying, “Don’t call me Grandma.”

Jing Li was confused, what happened to Grandma?

Grandma looked at Jing Li with a pained expression and said, “Lili, even if my home is not good, you can’t bring a boy to my house like this. Are you… do you want to embarrass Ranran like this?”

Jing Ran habitually scratched the back of his head and said, “Grandma, I am Ranran…”