Xie Huai: “Zhu Ziyu said you’re almost out of facial cleanser…”

“…No!” Before he could finish, Xia Xia thought of her ten-yuan Dabao facial cleanser and quickly interrupted, “I still have plenty of facial cleansers, please don’t buy any.”

Seeing her mortified expression, Xie Huai asked, “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”

Xia Xia wanted to cry but couldn’t bear to tell Xie Huai the truth. She forced herself to say, “I like it… it’s just too much. I probably won’t use it all even by college graduation?”

“It’s not just for using, it’s for showing off.”

Xia Xia: “?”

Was Xie Huai expecting her to show off a twenty-yuan face cream to the little match girl?

“Didn’t Cai Yun think your twenty-yuan face cream was shabby?” Xie Huai patted the box, raising his eyebrows arrogantly, “This is an eight-hundred-yuan face cream, and if that’s not enough, I’ll buy more eight-hundred-yuan ones.”

Xia Xia: “…”

The thoughts of this muscular man were truly beyond her mortal comprehension.

Xie Huai said: “I don’t know what girls like to use, so I researched a lot online. All that stuff about dry skin, oily skin, combination skin, sensitive skin, different skincare products for different skin types, plus day creams, night creams, essences, foundation… it was all confusing, I couldn’t understand it, that’s why I asked Zhu Ziyu.”

“If you don’t like this brand, I can buy you something else.”

Xia Xia said: “I do like it.”

“You’re lying.” Xie Huai put down the barbecue tongs. “Look at how conflicted you seem.”

“I really like it.” Xia Xia said softly, appearing like an obedient little lamb, “How could I not like anything you buy me? I’m conflicted because I just bought some on Taobao yesterday, and I’m wondering if I should get a refund.”

Xie Huai reached out: “Let me see.”

Xia Xia handed him her phone. Xie Huai checked her orders and found that she had indeed bought a skincare set yesterday – a three-piece set with toner, moisturizer, and facial cleanser for just over a hundred yuan.

He clicked “Apply for Refund.”

Xia Xia: “Hey—”

Xie Huai held both their phones, binding them as family accounts and labeling her as “Wife.”

He opened Xia Xia’s shopping cart and saw several skincare sets: “What’s the difference between these?”

“I don’t know either, maybe the expensive ones are better.”

Xia Xia occasionally browsed Weibo and Xiaohongshu, and would casually add recommended items to her cart while browsing Taobao. She never bought them, just kept them there to look at.

Xie Huai made a sound of acknowledgment and paid for the most expensive miracle water set in her cart.

Xia Xia: “…”

“You should have told me earlier, I would have bought you this.” Xie Huai scrolled through her cart, seeing a bunch of lipsticks and various makeup items he didn’t understand. Before Xia Xia could stop him, he paid for everything.

“I don’t even wear makeup, I just added those to my cart randomly,” Xia Xia quickly tried to grab the phone. “Stop wasting money, return them quickly.”

Xie Huai held the phone up where she couldn’t reach it.

“Whether you wear makeup or not is your choice, but whatever others have, you should have too.” Xie Huai said, “I like buying things for you, and let Cai Yun see – can her boyfriend buy her the things your boyfriend buys for you?”

Xia Xia was speechless.

Xie Huai continued browsing her cart, his finger sliding: “You’re looking at perfumes?”

Xia Xia made a startled sound, then awkwardly said: “No, no, no, I was just browsing, don’t buy—”

The more flustered she became, the more suspicious Xie Huai felt. He opened the customer service chat in the link and saw Xia Xia’s conversation with the service representative.

[Which scent do men prefer more?]

[Hello dear, that varies from person to person.]

[Which scent is more likely to make someone lose control?]

[Dear, what do you mean by lose control?]

Xia Xia sent several embarrassed emoticons: [The kind that would make him unable to resist kissing and hugging me.]

Customer Service: [Dear, we recommend this one, with a rose as the top note…]

The customer service sent a long fragrance description, but Xie Huai didn’t read it further.

He held the phone up to Xia Xia’s face: “What’s this?”

Xia Xia tried to explain: “That was Zhu Ziyu using my phone to browse Taobao that day, she wanted to buy perfume to seduce her boyfriend.”

Xie Huai said: “That forty-year-old pervert doesn’t need seducing. He already looks desperate.”

Xia Xia: “…He’s only thirty-five, not forty!”

Xie Huai said flatly: “Don’t worry, I won’t buy perfume. You don’t need perfume – just standing in front of me is enough to make me lose control.”

He cleared out the snacks in Xia Xia’s shopping cart and continued scrolling, then his finger stopped: “Sister Xia, impressive. I hadn’t even thought about it, but you’re already prepared to buy.”

Xia Xia was still upset about the money when she noticed his strange expression. She leaned over to look and her face immediately turned bright red.

“No, Brother Huai—” she called out miserably, “Let me explain, this is an accident—”

Xie Huai thoughtfully stared at the condoms and lubricant from the Okamoto flagship store in her cart.

“I was browsing Taobao and accidentally saw it, accidentally clicked on it, I…”

“Accidentally clicked?” Xie Huai moved the phone closer to her face, “Twenty boxes of condoms, twenty boxes! How long were you planning to use these? Xia Xia, you don’t just like me, you’re trying to kill me.”

Xia Xia: “……”

Xie Huai returned the phone to Xia Xia. She choked on both Xie Huai’s words and the chili powder, coughing violently.

Xie Huai poured her a glass of water. After she calmed down, she looked at Xie Huai strangely: “You’re not going to buy them?”

“If anyone’s buying, it should be you.” Xie Huai smiled mischievously, “You’re Sister Xia, I’m Little Huai. How dare Little Huai buy anything without Sister Xia’s permission?”

“Though twenty boxes is too many. Even if Sister Xia can handle it, Little Huai would die of exhaustion.”

Xia Xia: “…”

“Have some shame, will you!”

Xie Huai stopped teasing her, opened a can of beer, ordered her a fresh fruit juice, and continued grilling.

He had Xia Xia sit behind him, using his body to shield her from the smoky charcoal fire.

Xia Xia had eaten some snacks earlier to fill her stomach and hadn’t felt hungry, but Xie Huai’s grilled meat was so tender and flavorful that she couldn’t help eating a lot more.

Xie Huai could be irritatingly roguish at times, but when quiet, he was heart-meltingly gentle.

He didn’t eat himself, putting everything on Xia Xia’s plate, only drinking beer and eating meat after she was almost full.

Xia Xia stroked his hair, resting her chin on her hand as she gazed at him, thinking he was like a docile wolf-dog.

“Little Huai.” Xia Xia’s eyes were round and bright like a cat’s, “Are you going to rent this place?”

Xie Huai: “What do you think about it?”

Xia Xia thought for a moment: “It’s quite quiet, and the facilities are good, but it’s in a remote location that no one knows about. Will you be able to break even after taking it over?”

“It’s two kilometers from South University, twenty minutes by shared bike, and only three yuan per person by ride-share.” Xie Huai put down his chopsticks and calculated for her, “Annual rent is a hundred thousand, the transfer fee is three hundred thousand for five years. I’ve calculated – there are six grills here, maximum capacity of fifty people at once, charging per person at eighty yuan.”

“We’ll only provide facilities and space. The farmers’ market is nearby, they’ll have to buy their ingredients, which saves us the labor cost of service.”

Xie Huai set aside his previous playful expression. With lowered eyes, his thoughtful appearance was serious and charming.

“Weekdays are slower, weekends and holidays busier. Calculating four tables per day, six people per table, after deducting rent, utilities, and equipment maintenance costs, the net monthly income is thirty thousand yuan.” Xie Huai smiled helplessly, “But with twenty thousand going to high-interest loans each month, and the remaining ten thousand covering the transfer fee, I basically won’t have any income for the first three years.”

Xia Xia was surprised: “This place can earn thirty thousand a month? Then why does the owner want to transfer it?”

“He barely gets two tables a day, and after two years hasn’t even earned back the transfer fee, that’s why he’s desperate to sell.” Xie Huai smiled, “Brother Huai can earn thirty thousand, but not everyone can. Have you forgotten what I’m best at?”

Xia Xia blinked, understanding.

This rural restaurant mainly targeted students, and what Xie Huai had most of was student connections.

The moonlight was gentle.

Xia Xia’s stomach was round and full, she lay limp in the rocking chair unable to move. Xie Huai took out his phone to check nearby hotels.

Xia Xia: “I need to go back to the dorm tonight.”

“Don’t go back.”

Xie Huai picked her up.

Xia Xia’s body was soft and delicate. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs curling around his waist, her whole body hanging on him.

“I can’t.”

The owner had gone back to his room, and the night was quiet except for the faint sound of insects from the bamboo grove.

“Cai Yun became vice chairman of the student council this semester, she leads room inspections every night. If I don’t go back, I’ll be the first one she causes trouble for,” Xia Xia pouted. “I still want this semester’s scholarship. If she writes me up once, I won’t get the national scholarship.”

“Don’t go back.” Xie Huai bit her ear, “It’s your birthday today, let me stay with you a while longer.”

Xia Xia thought for a moment: “No, I have to go back.”

Xie Huai licked her ear shell, his tongue holding her earlobe, then vindictively bit down hard.

Xie Huai left his car at the restaurant and walked back with her hand in hand.

There weren’t many people on the road, just their two long shadows on the wide path, mixed with the wild dancing tree shadows, all jumbled and unclear.

Xia Xia ran ahead, trying to step into Xie Huai’s shadow.

She wore a goose-yellow long dress today, the hem fluttering in the evening breeze as she moved.

Xie Huai walked behind, his eyes never leaving her.

The return journey was long. When Xia Xia got tired of playing, she asked Xie Huai to carry her on his back again.

“If you don’t like them, I’ll return the Yumeizheng creams.”

“Don’t return them.” Xia Xia thought about how Xie Huai had bought them for her and felt reluctant to part with them but also felt that eight-hundred-yuan Yumeizheng was really excessive. She thought of a compromise, “How about you return some and leave me one bottle? It’s your birthday gift to me, I want to keep it.”

“Just keep them all, they’re not worth much.”

“If you can’t use them up, use them as body lotion, and if there’s still more, give them to me to use.” Xie Huai smiled, his teeth white, looking completely like a fresh-faced youth, “I’ll absorb some of your milk scent too.”

Xia Xia blushed: “The milk scent is natural.”

“Oh?” Xie Huai said, “Then I’ll just have to snuggle you more.”

Xia Xia hugged his neck tighter, not speaking.

Xie Huai also fell silent, quietly enjoying the cool evening breeze, content and gentle.

“Are you tired?”

“Tired.” Xie Huai said, “Give me a kiss and I won’t be tired anymore.”

Xia Xia obediently kissed him, and Xie Huai suddenly stopped walking.

“Xia Xia.” His voice was serious, “Let’s rent a place outside. I want to live with you.”

Xia Xia was stunned for a moment, then smiled: “Okay.”