When she got home, Cheng Lele saw her mother on the phone. Seeing her come in, her mother went into the master bedroom and closed the door.

Cheng Lele entered her own room and wearily threw herself onto the bed.

Had her behavior today been a bit too obvious? Did Little Bro see that she knew?

Would Little Bro be hurt?

If the two of them talked things out, could they still get along like before?

When did Little Bro start liking her?

Cheng Lele guessed it was most likely before he secured his graduate recommendation to Z University. She had once deeply analyzed herself at midnight—if Tsinghua or Peking University called to her, she would go without hesitation. Yet Little Bro had refused so easily, which was truly too noble—thinking about it now, it was the nobility of love.

Ah, how could it be love!

Almost everyone’s adolescence has been darkened by heartache over love. Cheng Lele was no exception, except hers was for Little Bro’s love.

She opened QQ and saw that Chen Xiaomu had already changed the cycling plan to a two-day-one-night camping proposal.

Cheng Lele typed: [Can I bring my Little Bro along?]

Chen Xiaomu: [Sure.]

Chen Xiaomu: [Remember to bring the baby bottle and pacifier together.]

Cheng Lele: […]

Before long, Zhong Ming sent her a private message on Q.

[How are things between you and your bro?]

Cheng Lele sighed in her reply: [I’m still playing dead, but I don’t know how convincing my act is.]

Zhong Ming said: [You’ve calmed down for so many days and still haven’t sorted things out?]

Cheng Lele: [I’ve been studying hard. Where would I have time to think about it?]

Zhong Ming gave her a thumbs up: [You’re someone who does great things, keeping your composure like this.]

[Wasn’t it you who told me to focus on preparing for the college entrance exam first?]

[Of course I had to say that, but whether you can actually do it depends on you. I thought you’d be losing sleep and appetite every day.]

Cheng Lele: […]

[If your Little Bro knew you’d figured out his true feelings for you, he’d be the one losing sleep and appetite.]

[Would he?]

[Of course, it depends on whether you go with the flow and accept or are very moved but then reject him. His emotions rest on your single thought. Come on, tell bro, what’s your thought?]

Cheng Lele covered her face: [I don’t know.]

[What do you mean you don’t know?]

[I just want to always be with Little Bro, but preferably not turn it into such a strange relationship.]

[So you don’t want to like him as a man. He doesn’t have sexual appeal to you.]

[What sexual or not? Don’t be so explicit.] Cheng Lele’s tail had been stepped on. She remembered Little Bro’s presence paused at her lips, carrying a bit of warmth, his gaze very clean, yet seeming like he would leap across the table and kiss her the next second.

Her heart pounded rapidly a few times. It wasn’t being moved—it was from being scared.

[…Did you come from the Qing Dynasty?]

[I, well, I don’t know either.]

[It’s okay, you never liked thinking about things anyway. It’s normal for your brain to rust and not turn when you suddenly encounter something. Give yourself more time.]

[You seem to be implying something about me.]

[Be confident, remove the word “seem.”]

[Bye.]

Putting down her phone, Cheng Lele tossed and turned in bed. One moment she remembered Little Bro’s kiss in the darkness that day, the next moment she recalled the ambiguous touch during the day—each one made her curl up her limbs and want to dig out a three-bedroom apartment right there on the spot.

As the saying goes, an elder brother is like a father. After Cheng Dong passed away, Chen An gave up Tsinghua and Peking University for her, tutored her in studies, provided guidance on college applications, and took on more of the responsibilities Cheng Dong used to have. She almost had a feeling of “fatherly love like a mountain,” and now suddenly this happens—was it forcing her to cry out whether this was a distortion of human nature or a decay of morality?

Wouldn’t it be better to just live simply?

Ye Xiaomei knocked on the bedroom door outside: “Lele, may Mom come in?”

Since recovering her spirits, Ye Xiaomei no longer casually invaded her personal space. Cheng Lele sat up: “Mom, come in.”

She walked in: “What are you doing?”

“I was a bit tired just now, resting for a bit.”

“After exams you should relax.” Ye Xiaomei sat down by the bed. “Have you thought about where you’d like to go? The old saying goes, read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles. It’s rare to have such a long vacation, so go around and explore.”

“Our class is organizing a trip to Chengdu, but not many people have signed up yet. Chen Xiaomu invited me camping, probably somewhere nearby.”

Ye Xiaomei stroked the little umbrella pattern on the bedsheet and said: “That’s good. Have you thought about visiting Beijing?”

“Beijing?” Cheng Lele was stunned for a moment. “I haven’t been to Beijing yet.”

Ye Xiaomei said: “As a Chinese person, you should at least visit the capital, right? Climb the Great Wall, tour the Forbidden City—it’s good exercise and broadens your horizons.”

She smiled faintly. Today she wore jade-colored earrings that made her face look particularly beautiful.

“Sounds good.” Cheng Lele nodded.

“I could practically be half a local showing you around Beijing now.”

Since attending that offline sharing event last time, Ye Xiaomei had flown to Beijing twice more, staying several days each time. Cheng Lele had also discovered that her mother had uploaded many videos of traveling in Beijing to her online space.

Although preparing for the final college entrance exam push alone was a bit lonely, Mom’s happiness was most important.

“Mom, do you like Beijing that much?” Cheng Lele asked.

Ye Xiaomei nodded, her earrings swaying with the motion.

“Then I like Beijing too.”

“You haven’t even been there yet.”

“What Mom likes, I definitely like.”

“Really?”

Cheng Lele wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck, leaning into her mother’s embrace, saying sweetly: “Of course it’s true.”