Extra 2 (An An x Lele)

It was Friday. An An had been feeling anxious since the afternoon, checking her phone after every class.

At noon, her uncle had mentioned in the family group chat that her aunt was about to give birth, but there had been no further news since then. She didn’t know how things were going. She sent a message to her mother, but her mother hadn’t replied.

During the four afternoon classes, An An had been unable to concentrate.

As soon as the last class ended, An An hurriedly grabbed her already packed bag and rushed out.

When her friend Zhenzhen called out to her from behind, she ignored her, merely waving a hand before running off.

When An An reached the entrance of the building, she heard Lele’s voice from behind, “An An—”

Lele, now quite tall at over 1.8 meters, caught up with her in a few steps. He reached her and asked, “Why are you running so fast today?”

An An slapped her forehead, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I can’t go back with you today. My aunt is giving birth and I need to go to the hospital now.”

As she spoke, she shoved her heavy, bulging backpack into Lele’s arms. “Hold this for me. I’ll come find you tomorrow, and we can do our homework together.”

After saying this, she turned and ran off.

Lele, holding the backpack, watched her retreating figure with a helpless expression. “Slow down.”

“I know!” she called back.

Once she was out of sight, one of Lele’s classmates caught up with him, patting him on the shoulder and breathing heavily. “So, did your childhood sweetheart didn’t come home with you?”

You Boqing’s face turned red. “What childhood sweetheart? Don’t say that.”

Terms like “childhood sweethearts” seemed to carry different meanings, and An An was still young and not aware of such things.

His classmate couldn’t help but be speechless. “Even grown-up girls aren’t as shy as you. Keep dawdling, and when your little sweetheart is taken by someone else, you’ll regret it.”

He knew how popular Li Qingshu was at their school. She had quickly become the school’s new beauty upon enrolling to their school, and people privately commented that it was fortunate the previous school beauty had graduated, otherwise, it would have been awkward for her to be overshadowed by a junior.

However, You Boqing was also quite handsome. He had transferred to their school in the second year of high school. By then, the school had already selected its “school hunk,” a boy from Class 5, but in everyone’s eyes, You Boqing was still the most handsome in their school.

He was good-looking, had excellent grades, and had a great personality. Many girls had secret crushes on him.

Unfortunately, he had someone he liked. Since they got along well, he knew that You Boqing had transferred specifically for Li Qingshu.

You Boqing did not respond to this.

—o—o—o—

Meanwhile, An An soon arrived at the school gate and saw her father parked nearby.

She quickly opened the rear door and climbed in. “Daddy—”

Li Xiao glanced at her through the rearview mirror and asked, “Where’s your backpack?”

“I saw Lele just now and gave it to him. There are a few questions I don’t understand, so I plan to ask Lele about them tomorrow.”

Li Xiao chuckled, “I see you’re more interested in going to Lele’s house for some good food.”

An An, caught in the act, glared at her father in annoyance.

Li Xiao, still smiling, asked about her recent situation. An An updated him on her academic life over the past two weeks. She was now attending the affiliated middle school, which continued its closed management style. Students only had a break every two weeks.

After graduating from junior high, An An decided on her future path. She wanted to attend a domestic university, so the previous international school was no longer suitable for her. The international school was more aligned with foreign teaching methods, making it challenging to enter a domestic university.

Thus, she chose the affiliated middle school, which her aunt had attended.

The affiliated middle school had a heavy academic load. Previously, An An had some spare time to pursue her hobbies, but now, with the rigorous schedule, her time was more constrained. However, her knowledge had become more solid.

Knowing she was attending the affiliated middle school, Lele had transferred there as well.

Li Xiao drove her to the hospital, and they found the delivery room. Jin Dayou was anxiously pacing outside, while six-year-old Jin Baihan sat quietly on a stool doing his homework, occasionally turning his head to glance around with a serious expression on his small face.

An An ran over and called out, “Uncle Jin, Hanhan.”

Jin Dayou turned to look when he heard them, “Brother, An An’s here too?”

Jin Baihan stood up and obediently greeted them, “Uncle, sister.”

An An walked over and couldn’t resist pinching his chubby little face.

Jin Baihan said seriously, “Sister, don’t pinch me. I’m a little man now.”

An An laughed upon hearing this.

She thought her younger brother was really cute. She wondered who he had taken after, as despite being only six years old, his personality was unusually serious.

She remembered that her aunt had been rather cold-natured, while her uncle was someone who could chat with anyone. How had they ended up with such a little rock?

An An asked him, “Do you hope your Mommy will give birth to a little brother or a little sister?”

Baihan obediently answered, “I like both, it doesn’t matter if it’s a little brother or a little sister. As long as Mommy comes out soon, that’s fine.”

He then looked anxiously at the delivery room door.

Li Xiao glanced at the father and son and said, “You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I’ll go out and buy some food. You two stay here and wait.”

Jin Dayou wasn’t hungry. He wasn’t in the mood to eat, but seeing his young son beside him, he nodded.

Thinking about Li Xin still in the delivery room, Jin Dayou couldn’t help but worry.

The child had been in an accident. Both he and Li Xin had taken precautions, but they hadn’t anticipated a pregnancy. By the time they found out, it had already been four months. Li Xin had been in poor health before, and after marriage, Jin Dayou had been taking care of her. Although her health had improved a lot, a miscarriage would be very damaging to her body, and they didn’t want to abort it.

After discussing it, they decided to keep the baby, even if it meant paying a fine in the end.

Sounds gradually started coming from the delivery room. Jin Dayou instinctively leaned against the delivery room door, peering inside. Even though he couldn’t see anything, he was still uneasy.

Li Xiao left, and An An went to sit next to her brother.

Baihan anxiously asked, “Sister, when will Mommy come out?”

An An didn’t know either but still comforted him, “It will be soon. When Auntie gave birth to you, it took a long time too. Don’t worry.”

She then tried to distract him: “Have you thought of names for the baby?”

Baihan quickly nodded, “I’ve thought of them. If it’s a little brother, Daddy says we’ll name him Jin Songchen. If it’s a little sister, she’ll be named Jin Xiyue. Mommy also said that Daddy’s naming skills aren’t very good.”

An An laughed upon hearing this and patted his little head.

The three of them waited by the door for a while.

Li Xiao hadn’t returned yet, but Jiang Rou arrived. After another ten minutes or so, Dong Mingming came with Aunt Shi.

Jiang Rou and Jin Dayou stood at the delivery room door, discussing Li Xin’s condition. They learned that Li Xin’s water had broken around noon. She had driven to the hospital alone and calmly sent Jin Dayou a message to come pick up the baby in the afternoon.

Eventually, she managed to calmly find a doctor, and by the time Jin Dayou arrived, she was already lying in bed, waiting to give birth.

Jiang Rou didn’t know what to say, “She’s so bold. I’ll give her a piece of my mind when she comes out.”

Jin Dayou looked at the delivery room, his forehead sweating with anxiety.

Li Xiao returned with several meals, and everyone ate a bit. They continued waiting until after nine in the evening when Li Xin finally came out.

Jin Dayou first went to see Li Xin, while Jiang Rou took the swaddled baby from the nurse. An An glanced over and thought the baby girl was so tiny, her face red and her eyes still shut tight.

Baihan ran over, looking up eagerly. An An picked him up and let him look at his sister.

The area around the delivery room was bustling with activity.

That night, Jin Dayou stayed at the hospital to accompany Li Xin. Baihan went home with An An and the others. He was very well-behaved, not crying or making a fuss.

Before leaving, he told Jin Dayou, “Daddy, you need to take good care of Mommy.”

Jin Dayou patted his head.

—o—o—o—

The next morning, An An went with her mother to the hospital to see her aunt and sister. In the hospital room, Li Xin lay in bed, smiling as she watched Jin Dayou burp the baby.

Baihan ran over, unusually lively and not his usual calm self. He followed Jin Dayou around, looking at his sister with a big smile on his face.

Jiang Rou soon left.

An An stayed in the room with her aunt for a while and noticed that her aunt’s smile had not faded. Her gaze, especially when it rested on Uncle Jin and her two children, was full of tenderness.

This tenderness was familiar to An An; it was how her mother usually looked at her father.

She suddenly remembered how her aunt used to be. Although her aunt had always smiled before, that smile was often restrained, especially in public, giving off a sense of distant aloofness.

At that time, she was still young and didn’t understand much. She thought that was just how her little aunt was.

But later, she didn’t know when it started, her little aunt began to smile a lot, even when she was outside, she would smile happily.

Her mother had talked about the situation between her little aunt and Uncle Dayou and added a comment to the effect that one should speak clearly about any issues and not be like her little aunt, who naively kept everything to herself, ultimately suffering because of it.

At that time, she felt her mother was right. So, later on, whenever there was something, she would always tell her parents.

—o—o—o—

After leaving her little aunt’s hospital room, An An went to find Lele.

Lele said that there were guests at his home today and it might be a bit noisy, so he suggested going to the library to read and then having lunch out. Recently, a new Western restaurant had opened in the downtown shopping center, and he had heard it was very good.

An An agreed without hesitation and took a taxi straight to the library. When she arrived, Lele was already there ahead of time and had saved her a spot.

He was sitting by the window. At seventeen, he was a tall young man with fair skin and delicate features. His eyes carried a rare calmness for his age. Although he was only wearing a white t-shirt and black trousers, he became the center of attention in the entire reading room.

An An had heard her father mention that Lele’s father was in poor health and had started letting Lele take over the company’s affairs in recent years. Her father had even urged her to work harder to surpass Lele.

She felt her father was overthinking it. She only liked studying and wanted to be a scientist in the future.

So, she had advised her father to consider having another child. Her father did have that thought, but her mother firmly disagreed, saying that having another child at her age would be too embarrassing.

Before An An had walked closer, she saw two girls shyly approaching Lele. One of them blushed and asked for his WeChat ID.

Lele politely declined—however, a trace of indifference could be seen in his demeanor.

The two girls left, disappointed.

After they had gone, An An, who had been standing behind, was revealed. Seeing An An, Lele immediately smiled and his voice softened considerably, “You came over so quickly?”

An An was taken aback. She had clearly sensed the coldness mixed with politeness from Lele just now, and his current gentle demeanor seemed like a different person.

She had heard from Zhenzhen and Qinqin before that they said You Boqing was only easy to talk to in front of her; with others, he seldom engaged.

At that time, An An had explained to them that Lele was a bit reserved and might seem distant because they were not very familiar with each other. She assured them that he was actually a very nice person.

Back then, Zhenzhen and Qinqin had said something like, “Love is blind,” referring to her perception of Lele.

An An was so annoyed that she chased them, feeling they must have read too many romance novels.

An An sat down opposite Lele, just as she was about to open her backpack, she saw Lele take out a cute little tote bag.

Seeing this, An An smiled, realizing he had brought her some food.

Sure enough, when Lele opened it, there were several food containers, each filled with beautifully prepared dishes.

An An picked up sushi with caviar took a bite, and closed her eyes in satisfaction. She nodded to him repeatedly and whispered, “It’s delicious.”

Lele smiled, “It’s all for you. Take your time eating.”

As An An ate, she quietly told him that her little aunt had given birth to a baby sister the night before. She cheerfully said, “Now, I have two younger sisters.”

To make sure he remembered the other one, she reminded him, “The other sister is Mianmian, whom I mentioned before. Mianmian is really amazing; she won an award for singing recently and said she wants to become a big star when she grows up.”

Lele looked at her with a fond smile, “You’re amazing too, ranking first in physics in this month’s test.”

An An shook her head, “Not enough. I want to place in the physics competition this semester.”

“You’ll definitely make it.”

An An nodded vigorously, “I’ll work hard.”

—o—o—o—

The two of them did homework for the whole morning. When they left the library for lunch, they ran into Lele’s classmates at the entrance: three girls and four boys, all in their senior year with the college entrance exams just over a month away. Despite the vacation, they hadn’t relaxed and had planned to come to the library to study.

Seeing Lele, some of his classmates came over to greet him. One of the girls kept staring at Lele and asked him with a smile: “Is this your sister?”

Lele’s smile faded slightly. He glanced at the other person but did not answer. Instead, he turned to the boy beside her and said, “We have things to do, so we’re leaving now.”

The girl’s face turned awkward; her eyes fixed on Lele as she bit her lip.

An An was no longer a naive child. By the time she was in the sixth grade, Qin Qin had introduced her to romance novels. Qin Qin herself had written several novels and asked her and Zhen Zhen to read them. Since Qin Qin’s novels had received no collections on the platform, An An and Zhen Zhen also ended up encountering many pitfalls.

Naturally, she could understand the girl’s feelings for Lele. An An suddenly realized that it seemed many people liked Lele.

As the two walked along the road, An An couldn’t help but keep turning her head to look at him. She then noticed that Lele had grown quite tall. Walking beside him, she only reached his chin and had to tilt her head to look up at him.

Lele seemed to sense her gaze. His ears turned slightly red, and he turned his head to ask, “What’s the matter?”

An An did not think much of it and directly asked, “Lele, do you like someone?”

Lele did not like her calling him by his nickname and frowned slightly. An An quickly realized and changed her wording, “You, do you have a girl you like?”

He lowered his voice and asked, “Why do you want to know?”

An An frowned, “I’m just curious about what it feels like to like someone. I asked my parents, but they wouldn’t tell me.”

Lele fell silent. Just when An An thought he was unsure, he suddenly said, “I heard that when you like someone, you keep thinking about her. If she’s happy, you feel happy too. If she’s unhappy, you feel unhappy. Just being a little closer makes your heart race.”

An An couldn’t help but widen her eyes, “How do you know so well? Do you really like someone? Who is it?”

At this point, Lele really fell silent. An An was too curious and kept pressing him for answers. Eventually, Lele seemed to get annoyed and replied directly, “Are you stupid? Don’t you know who I like?”

Then he ran off ahead.

“……”

An An stood behind, puzzled, and couldn’t figure out what he meant for a long time.

How was she supposed to know who he liked? She wasn’t in the same class as him.

When An An kept asking him later, he wouldn’t say anything. It wasn’t until after his college entrance exams that Aunt Song chatted with Jiang Rou and mentioned that Lele’s exam results were not ideal and that he planned to repeat a year and be in the same class as her, that An An finally understood what was going on.

Lele’s exam results had actually been very good, so what did “not ideal” mean? She had even looked up the results with him at that time.

Eventually, as she looked at Lele, who had become her desk mate, An An couldn’t help but poke him in the arm and quietly ask, “Why did you want to grade?”

He had once told her that he was worried she would be bullied in the new school, just like when she was younger, without anyone to look after her.

At that time, she thought he saw her as a younger sister.

But now, An An seemed to understand something.

Lele was seriously taking notes. Hearing her question, he turned his head to look at her and said nothing. Instead, he wrote a sentence in his notebook and pushed it toward her, which read—

“Afraid my little green plum would be taken away.”

Seeing this, An An’s face inexplicably flushed red.

What did he mean by his “little green plum”? Rabbits don’t eat the grass around their burrows. She had always seen him as an older brother.

But from then on, although they continued to interact as before, there was still something different.

By the end of the first semester of senior year, the two secretly started dating.

After they started dating, An An was curious and asked him, “When did you start liking me?”

“I don’t know. It should have been a long time ago.”

An An couldn’t help but be surprised, “Then why did you accept the love letters I passed for others before?”

Lele looked at her expressionlessly and replied, “How could I not accept them? You had eaten so much of their food.”

“……”

So, he knew about that.

An An had promised her parents that she would only start dating after entering university, so she didn’t dare tell them about her relationship with Lele.

She was also afraid that her father would secretly check her phone. Every time, she only chatted with Lele through Taobao friends, discussing only academic matters on WeChat.

Both of them were experiencing their first relationship and didn’t understand what they should do. They only met secretly to watch movies during each holiday. Their only intimate contact happened during the Spring Festival holiday when they went to an amusement park. Afterward, they hid in a corner and kissed.

After the kiss, neither of them was sure what they felt. They only knew their faces turned red and their hearts raced.

It took them a long time to calm down before heading home.

An An always thought she had hidden things well. However, after the college entrance examination ended, when she told her parents she was going on a trip with friends, Li Xiao, who was sitting on the sofa, scoffed and said, “If it’s a date, just say it’s a date. Why pretend it’s a trip with friends?”

Jiang Rou added calmly, “You and Lele are still young. You need to take proper precautions.”

“……”

An An looked at them in shock, “You knew?”

Li Xiao retorted, “You didn’t even notice how poor your acting was. You used to throw your phone around carelessly, but now you hide it. You came back from the New Year with a swollen mouth. Do you think I’m blind?”

An An blushed and quickly grabbed her suitcase and ran—not wanting to hear her father’s words anymore.

When she reached the entrance of the community, Lele was already there. He helped her load her suitcase into the car. After they both got in, An An couldn’t help but mention this incident. To her surprise, Lele responded with a calm demeanor, “It’s normal.”

Madame Song and Boss You had already noticed his relationship with An An and had warned him not to bully her.

Lele took An An to a private island he had bought two years ago, which had been beautifully developed. Some areas were open to the public and were very lively.

Lele also knew how to operate a yacht and took An An out on the sea. An An learned to drive the yacht as well.

—o—o—o—

After spending more than ten days on the island, they went to the desert to watch the stars and eat roasted lamb…

They continued their travels until the start of the new school term, then went home for a few days before starting college together. An An majored in physics, while Lele chose finance.

An An’s classmates in her major were all focused and diligent students. They spent most of their time in the library and laboratories, rarely paying attention to outside matters. Although An An had caused some commotion when she first entered the school, her subsequent disappearance led to her being gradually forgotten.

In contrast, Lele, with his outstanding appearance and grades, had also appeared in finance magazines several times before. As soon as he joined the class, he became a popular figure in the department, and many girls in the school chased after him.

An An later learned that she had secretly felt jealous a few times.

However, Lele was quite amusing. He had custom-made several t-shirts with An An’s portrait on them and the text “My Girlfriend” underneath.

“……”

This incident even made its way onto the school forum, where it generated hundreds of posts. The comments included not only the enthusiastic screams of female students praising its romance but also male students commenting, “Brother, you’re impressive.”

An An and Lele’s relationship continued smoothly, with the only issue being that An An had little time to spend with Lele. Initially, Lele had brought it up a few times, but seeing An An’s dark circles while still accompanying him to watch movies, he stopped mentioning it.

After graduating from college, they got married. Lele went straight into the company and didn’t continue his studies, but he hired a tutor and took classes when he could, maintaining an affiliation with a international university.

An An continued her education, and after earning her doctorate, Lele funded the construction of a laboratory for her to focus on her research.

On their wedding day, An An told Lele, “I used to envy my parents and my aunt, thinking their love was like something out of a book, and I hoped to find a prince who would treat me well one day. But later, I realized that what I wanted, I had already had it.”

Lele looked at her with a gentle smile.

He had always been determined to marry her. From a young age, his mother had told him that An An had saved him. If An An hadn’t suggested going to the amusement park, his Aunt Jiang wouldn’t have taken her there and discovered him being trafficked.

Without An An, he still wouldn’t know where he was.

So, from a very young age, his heart had always had a place for someone—a girl named An An.

Not long after their marriage, An An became pregnant. Lele bought a house near her school, and the couple lived there. After the baby was born, Madame Song bought the floors above and below, connecting them and hiring two nannies to help them out.

Li Xiao gradually moved his business towards Beijing, and Jiang Rou was also preparing to come over. After all, An An was their only daughter, and naturally, they wanted to be closer.

Madame Song and Boss You were in the same boat, especially after the birth of their little grandson. They called so often—ten times a day.

That year, everyone grew up. An An’s best friend, Qin Qin, had become an online novelist. Initially, no one paid attention to her romance stories, but later she discovered that writing about wealthy families and melodramatic plots greatly increased her collections.

Qin Qin knew how to do this; although her own family wasn’t exactly a wealthy family, they were quite well-off. Especially since An An had shared many juicy stories about wealthy families, she simply poured all of them into her books.

Zhen Zhen had become an online travel and food vlogger, running around every day to taste various local delicacies. She also started dating a French boyfriend.

The two younger brothers of the Dong family had gone abroad to study, with one attending a military academy.

Among them, the most astonishing was Mianmian. She had truly become a big star. At fifteen, she had been chosen by a director to play a supporting role in a palace drama, gaining considerable popularity. She then starred as the lead in an online drama and skyrocketed to fame.

Fu Fei was somewhat incredulous. He had previously thought of his daughter as just dabbling in things, and he had been prepared to let her play around since they weren’t short of money. He hadn’t expected that she was now earning more than he did.

—o—o—o—

On New Year’s Eve, Fu Mianmian posted a collage on Weibo. The photos showed several families dining together and some younger generations in group pictures.

As soon as it was posted, fans rushed to the comments to shower praise. However, amidst the compliments, someone noticed the high beauty standards of the people in the photos.

“Wow, the Brother sitting on the sofa is so, so, so good-looking. That face is absolutely stunning; it’s such a pity they’re not in the entertainment industry.”

“Is this real? Is there really someone this beautiful? It wouldn’t be edited, would it?”

“This lady is so beautiful. Mianmian, I’m sorry, I think I might have to switch my allegiance.”

“Hey, I want all the information about that man within a minute. I like that face and those legs.” Another fan demanded.

Fu Mianmian grinned as she commented below, “You guys have no hope. They’re a couple.”

Then she took out her phone and snapped a direct photo of An An’s face. “No editing, she’s a real-life fairy.”

The comments erupted in a frenzy, praising An An’s looks.

In a playful mood, Fu Mianmian went over to Li Xiao and Jiang Rou, took three selfies with them, and even captured a shot of Li Xin sitting nearby.

She then replied to her fans, “Here are the fairy’s parents and her aunt. Aren’t they all super good-looking?”

The fans went wild.

“Ahhhh, this family is too good-looking!”

“I thought this lady was the peak of beauty, but her Daddy is even more handsome. Why did my Mommy give birth to me so late?”

“Upstairs, please take a look at the fairy’s Mommy. Even if you were born earlier, you probably wouldn’t have a chance.”

“Yes, yes, look at the fairy’s mother’s looks. You’re dreaming!”

“I like her aunt. She looks like a sophisticated and stylish beauty.”

—o—o—o—

That evening, Fu Mianmian’s Weibo post hit the trending topics. Someone dug up an old video of Li Xiao and An An filming an advertisement when Li Xiao was young.

The advertisement from back then looked outdated now, with the video comments full of “hahaha” and praises for the father-daughter duo. Many netizens said that the success of the Zodiac brand was due to their faces.

An An was even named the best idol of the year by netizens.

Her father was the chairman of Zodiac, a leading snack industry brand in the country. Over the years, there have never been any food safety issues with their products.

Her mother was a renowned traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who had treated many patients.

As for An An, despite being born into wealth and beauty, she had pursued her own goals. She did not choose to inherit their family business, did not spend lavishly, nor did she use her looks to her advantage. Instead, she dedicated herself to scientific research, contributing to human development.

This was the kind of star people should admire.