White Bowl

"Swish, swish, swish..." The broom swept across the floor. Ye Shuang glanced at the clock icon showing there was still plenty of time, then let his gaze fall on the girl beside him.

Chen Qin was naturally not good at cleaning, and was even rather poor at household chores in general. Of course, this wasn't her fault, as her family had an auntie who did the cleaning, so she never needed to do these things.

Even so, Chen Qin was currently trying her best to wipe the blackboard with a mop. "Hmm."

"Oh, right, A-Shuang, are you going straight home later?" As if remembering something, Chen Qin tilted her head to ask.

"Going home is fine," Ye Shuang said.

"Auntie and Uncle are away on a business trip today, so no one's home. Can I go to your place to hang out?" Chen Qin asked with a smile. "Maybe stay over? It is the weekend tomorrow, after all."

"Away?" Ye Shuang thought for a moment, but he had no problem keeping Chen Qin company.

"Okay," Ye Shuang nodded. "Come on over then."

"Hehe."

After the two finished cleaning, they put the cleaning tools away. From Ye Shuang's perspective, the straps of Chen Qin's little undershirt were visible through her blue school uniform. Speaking of which—

Back in middle school, he used to love playing with those straps, always making Chen Qin blush bright red.

Back then, Ye Shuang didn't have any strange thoughts about it; he just found it fun. But thinking about it now, Chen Qin never resisted back then, just letting him fiddle with her straps.

Ye Shuang gave a slight, wry smile. It seemed he had done quite a few not-so-great things in the past.

"What are you looking at?" Chen Qin turned around and asked curiously, noticing Ye Shuang's gaze. She felt he had been acting a bit off since a moment ago, seemingly staring at her in a daze.

"Nothing," Ye Shuang said, then walked side-by-side with the girl on their way home.

The students on duty were usually the last to leave. It was around six or seven in the evening now, the sky tinged with orange.

Walking like this with Chen Qin, the blurred parts of his memory slowly came into focus. It seemed like they had always been together.

When exactly did they start drifting apart?

Wait, did we ever drift apart?

Ye Shuang fell silent for a few seconds, feeling like his memories were a bit jumbled. Could it be because of that Zhao Mengyao?

"A-Shuang..."

"A-Shuang?"

"Hmm?" Ye Shuang turned back to find Chen Qin waving her small hand in front of his face. She looked at him curiously, even placing her hand on his forehead.

"Hmm... Do you have a fever?"

Saying this, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her forehead against his.

Their faces were very close. The faint scent of the girl, mixed with a youthful lemon fragrance, made Ye Shuang instinctively take a step back.

"No fever," Chen Qin said with a smile. "But should I still take you to the hospital to check?"

"No need, I was just spacing out for a bit," Ye Shuang said.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

After arriving home, Ye Shuang had just put down his keys when he saw Chen Qin scamper into his room and launch herself onto the bed with a flying leap.

"Comfy!" Chen Qin said, then beckoned. "A-Shuang, bring over the Zhiyin Manke we bought today. I haven't read it yet."

"Huh?" Ye Shuang was momentarily stunned before remembering Chen Qin was talking about a comic magazine.

It did have a lot of good comics, sold in serialized form. Back when phones weren't advanced and there was little mobile entertainment, magazines like this were very popular, though they weren't doing so well now.

A few years later, it seemed due to internal issues at the publisher, even the good comics in Zhiyin Manke disappeared.

Ye Shuang thought for a moment, then chose to open his schoolbag and take out the magazine.

"Here."

"Hehe." Chen Qin then lay there on her stomach and started reading.

Ye Shuang propped his cheek on his hand, quietly watching Chen Qin.

"A-Shuang, aren't you going to read?"

"Hmm, you go ahead. I don't feel like reading right now."

"Eh." Chen Qin said, then as if remembering something, "Oh no!"

"Huh?"

"I was on duty today and haven't showered yet." Chen Qin said, springing up in an instant and dashing off to turn on the water heater.

"A-Shuang, get me some clothes."

Saying this, she disappeared into the bathroom without looking back.

Ye Shuang: "..."

As impulsive and hasty as ever, Ye Shuang thought helplessly. He then stood up and walked familiarly to the wardrobe, opened it, and took out the clothes the girl would need.

He looked at the small-sized underwear and suddenly fell silent for a few seconds.

This girl Chen Qin... did she only... develop... during high school?

Pushing the miscellaneous thoughts aside, Ye Shuang took the clothes to the bathroom and knocked. "Got them."

"W-wait a sec... Eek?" The bathroom door opened. Chen Qin was still in the process of taking off her blue school trousers. Hopping on one foot to pull the leg off, she lost her balance and started toppling over headfirst!

Ye Shuang, quick as lightning, immediately caught her.

"Lost my footing," Chen Qin stuck out her tongue, but suddenly blushed and instinctively covered her... slimes.

Yet the white, bow-adorned... cups below were clearly visible.

Ye Shuang averted his gaze and shoved the clothes into her arms. "Alright, go take your shower."

"Oh."

After the bathroom door closed, Chen Qin suddenly opened it a crack and poked her head out. "A-Shuang, want to shower together?"

"No way."

"Wouldn't let you even if you wanted to," Chen Qin's head disappeared back inside as she said playfully.

Ye Shuang smiled wryly.

When Chen Qin came out after her shower, she had changed into her pajamas. Satisfied, she stretched and climbed back onto the bed to read the magazine.

Her hair wasn't very dry, and the scent of shampoo was particularly strong. Ye Shuang was just about to ask if she wanted to blow-dry her hair first when he saw Chen Qin slowly put down the magazine and pull a workbook out of her own schoolbag.

"Doing homework?"

"No, I want to improve my grades," Chen Qin said seriously. "Otherwise, I'll be separated from A-Shuang."

Propping his cheek on his hand, Ye Shuang asked, "What would happen if we were separated?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to know," Chen Qin said softly. "I think I'd be very, very sad."

"But with my current grades, it's so hard to get into No. 1 High School..."

Seeing the somewhat dejected Chen Qin, Ye Shuang really couldn't imagine how she managed to turn things around and test into it later. She must have put in tremendous effort.

"You'd be sad if we were separated? It's not like we'd lose contact."

Hearing this, Chen Qin looked at Ye Shuang, her face turning an involuntary red. "B-because I'm your only best friend! What if you get bullied in high school later? I can't protect you if I'm not around."

"Aren't Chen Hai and the others friends?"

"It's different! I'm special!" Chen Qin raised her chin proudly. "After all, I'm your only female friend."

"Is that so?" Ye Shuang narrowed his eyes and smiled. "I thought you had a crush on me."

Chen Qin's face froze for a second. Then she grabbed a nearby pillow and smothered Ye Shuang's face with it. "Stop being so full of yourself! I totally don't!"

A maiden's blush conveys more than words ever could.