Xie Ci immediately said, “Sure.”

Xu You lowered her head, pondering for a moment, asking hesitantly, “Then what do you like to eat?”

“Anything’s fine.”

More than ten minutes later, the two went to a very famous long street in Xi Town, with deep, winding alleys hidden on both sides.

A light fog rose in the evening, and the air was fresh and cool.

Red lanterns hung on both sides of the street. The bluestone slabs had been wetted by yesterday’s rain, mottled all along the way.

The time was a bit late. There were very few people coming and going on the road.

Xie Ci looked east and west. He was tall, wearing a black coat with a white t-shirt showing from the hem underneath.

Xu You glanced at him. “Pull up your zipper.”

He tilted his head, his thin lips hooking up in a slight arc.

“Why are we getting more and more lost? You’re not planning to secretly abduct me to your home, are you?”

Hearing Xie Ci’s words, Xu You was a bit speechless. “Why would I abduct you to my home…”

“Because I’m handsome.” He didn’t even need to think.

Xu You: ………

She took him to a noodle soup restaurant. The shop wasn’t very big. Though the time was so late, there were actually quite a few people sitting outside in the open air waiting.

Xu You and he went inside to find a seat and sit down. Side-by-side seats—the space was a bit small, so Xu You had no choice but to sit close to Xie Ci.

“What do you want to eat?”

Xu You pulled out a tissue. Stray hairs hung at the side of her face as she bent her head, seriously wiping the somewhat greasy wooden table in front of her.

“How would I know?”

The faint aroma of simmering food drifted over.

Xie Ci squeezed over, a small portion of his weight pressing onto her body, deliberately saying, “You’re the host, I’m the guest—is this how you treat guests?”

“You’re heavy.” Xu You quickly raised her hand to push his shoulder. “Get up.”

The two were playfully bickering when the proprietress came over with a small account book and a pen, speaking in the local dialect that Xie Ci couldn’t understand. He frowned. “What?”

This time the proprietress realized they were outsiders and asked again in very awkward Mandarin, “What do you want to eat?”

Xu You put down the tissue, turned around, and waved her hand, speaking in dialect.

Xie Ci leaned by her ear, his eyes rolling. “What bird language are you speaking now?”

“I said I’m not eating, only you’re eating.” She explained in a low voice.

Seeing the two’s intimate manner.

The proprietress laughed and asked in dialect if she was bringing her boyfriend home.

Xu You shook her head, saying in dialect that he wasn’t.

The proprietress thought she was just being shy and asked in dialect what her boyfriend wanted to eat.

Xu You shook her head. “He’s not my boyfriend,” she said in dialect.

This time Xie Ci, half-guessing, understood two words. He asked very seriously, “Are you praising me for being handsome?”

The proprietress laughed.

Xu You gave him a small eye roll. “What do you want to eat? Hurry up.”

In the end, they ordered a large bowl of noodle soup.

When it was brought over on a tray, wisps of steam rose from the white porcelain bowl, with finely chopped green scallions evenly scattered on top of the noodles.

Xie Ci frowned and stood up. “I want him to make it again. I don’t like eating scallions.”

“Don’t be so wasteful.” Xu You quickly pulled Xie Ci back, making him sit down.

“I’ll pick them out for you.”

As Xu You spoke, she reached for disposable chopsticks, spread out a tissue, and placed it on the greasy square wooden table. She carefully removed the scallions floating on the soup noodles bit by bit.

Hot mist steamed over her clean face.

The small restaurant was noisy and clamorous. On the wall nearby hung an old small television playing a Hong Kong drama from long ago.

Xie Ci watched Xu You’s series of actions unhurriedly, chuckling softly as he lowered his eyes.

—

The two took a late-night flight back to the neighboring city. By the time they arrived, it was already past two in the morning.

The deep blue sky was like a huge black curtain, with sparse and faint starlight, and a crescent moon curved and silent.

On the plane, Xu You had already been drowsy. Her half-open eyes couldn’t hold up and closed, sleeping for a little while. At this moment, coming out from the exit, she still couldn’t muster any energy.

Xie Ci glanced at her sideways, hesitating. “Should we…”

Xu You looked up. “Hm?”

“Get a hotel room? It’s not even three yet. We can sleep for a while.”

Xu You immediately shook her head.

As if seeing what she was thinking, Xie Ci coughed. “I’m not going to do anything to you.”

“And…”

He wanted to say more, but Xu You quickly made him stop. “No, don’t misunderstand. I just don’t like sleeping in hotels.”

Xie Ci: …….

With no choice, after leaving the airport, they randomly hailed a taxi to go to the city center.

Along the way, the driver looked them over several times curiously through the rearview mirror. That undisguised gaze made Xu You somewhat uncomfortable. Xie Ci, sitting beside her, grew impatient and shouted forward, “Hey, watch the road, driver. Why do you keep staring at my wife?”

The driver’s gaze shifted to Xie Ci. He chuckled and teased, “Dating at such a young age?”

Xie Ci, with nothing better to do, started bantering with him. “No, we’re not that young. We got our marriage certificate last year.”

“Really?” The driver was surprised.

“Of course it’s true. My wife just looks young. You don’t know—people always say she looks like a high school student.”

“She really does look like a high school student.”

Xie Ci laughed. “Right.”

Xu You couldn’t help pinching him, muttering softly, “What nonsense are you saying?”

The driver in front asked again, “So what were you two doing out so late at night?”

Xie Ci answered convincingly, “Accompanying my wife back to see her grandmother.”

“Oh… I see.” After that, the driver concentrated on driving.

The two got out at Changzheng Road. This was very close to school, with a shopping plaza brightly lit, and several 24-hour convenience stores nearby.

Xu You didn’t want to go to a hotel to get a room and couldn’t think of where else to spend the night. Anyway, it was just a few hours, so Xie Ci accompanied her wandering the streets.

Walking along the sidewalk, the street in the early morning hours was empty and deserted, with only an occasional roaring motorcycle passing by.

Xu You kept her head down.

Xie Ci walked beside her with his hands in his pockets, occasionally glancing down to watch her.

“Today…”

“Don’t say thank you to me.” He responded very quickly.

Xu You paused, then laughed with a “pfft” sound. “Why?”

Xie Ci stopped, coming out with, “Saying thank you is so boring. How about some practical action instead?”

“What practical action?”

Xie Ci narrowed his eyes and smiled. He bent down to meet her gaze. “A kiss?”

This person… why doesn’t he play by the rules…

Xu You tightened her clothes and asked calmly, “Have you had a lot of girlfriends?”

Time seemed to suddenly stand still.

This sudden attack made Xie Ci blink, choking. For a moment, he actually didn’t know how to answer.

She walked forward, saying as she walked, “They say you’re very bad, because the girls who chase you all end up heartbroken.”

Xie Ci immediately responded, asking urgently, “Who says I’m bad? How am I bad?! The girls who chase me are clearly very happy.”

Ahead was a step.

Xu You stepped up and turned back to continue asking, “Really? What’s there to be happy about?”

“Are you jealous?” Xie Ci suddenly realized.

Xu You stood on the higher ground, looking down at Xie Ci.

Her mind wandered.

He—sometimes his temper really wasn’t that good, but occasionally he had patience. He seemed to know a lot of people.

Most of the time, he always had that lazy, casual appearance.

She felt that he might be like a breeze in summer.

Blowing through the human world, too far from her.

The night was pitch black and very quiet. Too lazy to walk anymore and not wanting to endure the wind, she randomly found a sheltered bench and sat down.

Xie Ci was beside her and yawned.

“Can we… try?” After who knows how long, Xie Ci spoke.

His voice was very low.

So Xu You didn’t speak.

After a while.

“Do you really need a girlfriend that badly?” she asked.

Xie Ci: “Are you really stupid or just pretending to be stupid with me?”

Later, he couldn’t help it. His hand grabbed her chin and turned it, lowering his head slightly to face her. “What are you being stubborn about?”

Xu You lowered her eyes, her eyelashes trembling lightly.

Xie Ci leaned in, closing the distance between them. “Is it because you’re good at studying that you look down on me?”

“I…”

She averted her gaze, thinking before saying, “It’s not that I look down on you. It’s just that the two of us…”

“What about the two of us?” He responded lightly.

“Aren’t very suitable.”

Xu You said, “Maybe you don’t really like me. Perhaps it’s just a momentary impulse, or when you’re bored and lonely, a casual pastime…”

“Damn.”

Hearing her say this, Xie Ci wanted to be angry but also wanted to laugh.

“I’m bored? I’m lonely?! A pastime?! If I were lonely, there’d be plenty of people waiting for me. If I wanted a pastime, would I waste this much time on you? Can’t you really tell that I genuinely like you?”

“I’m sorry, my word choice might be problematic.”

She thought quietly for a moment, then explained, “What I meant to say is, I think we’re both too young. Whether it’s feelings or anything else, maybe we’re not mature enough…”

Xie Ci’s eyes looked at her.

His nose bridge was straight, his face narrow, his eyelashes long but not particularly curled. The corners of his eyes were slender and inward-turning, with slight creases.

“I don’t care what you say.”

Xu You froze.

Xie Ci’s hand went around her back, hooking her neck, and without allowing objection, he kissed her.

She wanted to push him away, but her hands were grabbed instead.

He turned and pressed her onto the bench, from her rosy lips, biting all the way to her soft white cheeks, finally lingering at her thin earlobes.

He liked her unbearably.

“Don’t be so bad.”

He lowered his head, his voice hoarse. “You won’t be satisfied until you’ve tormented me to death, right?”

“I haven’t!” Xu You struggled, her ears burning hot. “Don’t press down on me.”

Xie Ci remained unmoved.

Insatiable desire emerged fiercely, burning his heart with emptiness and anxiety.

He covered her slightly parted lips again, murmuring, “Just take pity on me, okay? Would it kill you to like me?”