Just as Ye Shuang had anticipated, Bai Yuyou not only avoided interacting with him all morning but also kept her distance, standing up and moving away whenever he got too close.
"Are you upset?" Ye Shuang asked, looking at her delicate, expressionless face. "What's wrong today?"
Bai Yuyou remained silent.
Before long, Tang Keke arrived, and the two girls quickly finished breakfast before heading off to school.
"Do you need another hug?" Tang Keke teased at the doorway, but Bai Yuyou tightened her grip on the strap of her satchel and hurriedly turned to go downstairs.
"Huh?"
"Did you two have a fight?" Tang Keke turned to Ye Shuang, puzzled.
Ye Shuang recalled the moment last night when the girl had secretly kissed him, but he still couldn’t figure out why she seemed to be deliberately avoiding him this morning.
A girl’s heart was the most complicated thing.
"We didn’t fight. I don’t know what’s going on either. Keke, if you find out, could you let me know?" Ye Shuang smiled faintly. Truthfully, he wasn’t even sure if Bai Yuyou was angry or what had caused it.
"Could it be… she’s jealous because you’ve been walking me home these past few days?" Tang Keke ventured a guess.
"That shouldn’t be it. Anyway, hurry up and catch up to her." Ye Shuang noticed Bai Yuyou was already quite far ahead and urged Tang Keke to follow.
"Alright then. Bye, big bro!"
"Mm, be careful on your way."
Watching Tang Keke rush after Bai Yuyou, Ye Shuang absentmindedly stroked his chin before slowly closing the door behind him.
After updating his novel for the day—still with hardly any readers—Ye Shuang sat on the sofa, lost in thought, unable to stop thinking about Bai Yuyou. But soon, he shook off his mood and decided to head to the hospital to check on the cat.
"Sir, this kitten is ready to be discharged," the staff at the pet hospital informed Ye Shuang. Once it had passed the critical period, there was no need for further hospitalization.
"Alright, I’ll take it home for now."
Ye Shuang poked the tiny kitten’s head through the cage bars. Since he’d already spent the money, he couldn’t just release it after it recovered, could he?
After buying cat litter, food, and canned supplies, Ye Shuang carried the pet carrier provided by the hospital, lugging bags of items out.
"So heavy."
"Meow!"
"Should I give you a name?"
"Meow!"
"Maybe I’ll let Yuyou name you when we get back. I’m terrible at naming things… or maybe just call you Mimi."
"Meow~"
The two seemed to be having a conversation on entirely different wavelengths. After loading everything into the passenger seat, Ye Shuang was about to get in the car when he spotted a familiar figure.
Leaning against the street railing was a girl in a school uniform, her hands tucked into her sleeves as she sipped from a cup of milk tea.
She stood there lazily, her shoulder-length hair slightly disheveled, a stark contrast to the hurried passersby around her—as if she existed in a different time and space altogether.
"Why aren’t you in school?"
The voice beside her drew the girl’s attention. An Shiyu turned her head slightly and noticed Ye Shuang standing next to her.
"Aren’t you skipping too, old man?" An Shiyu retorted. "Or do you not have a job?"
Ye Shuang didn’t answer directly. "..."
"Then again, people who work honestly usually don’t make much money." An Shiyu’s gaze drifted to the sports car parked not far behind him.
Glancing at the time—not even lunch break yet—Ye Shuang asked, "Did you sneak out again?"
"Pretty much. School’s boring." An Shiyu narrowed her eyes. "Though, to be honest, I haven’t found anything particularly interesting lately."
"Why?"
"Old man, what if I told you I’m actually super talented? Would you believe me?" An Shiyu suddenly asked.
"Like what?"
"Photographic memory, for example?" she said casually.
"Hyperthymesia?"
An Shiyu’s hand twitched slightly. She turned to look at Ye Shuang, as if she wanted to ask something but held back. "Yeah, something like that. I never forget anything I see or experience. Pretty cool, right?"
"Maybe." Ye Shuang wasn’t entirely convinced. "But if I had that ability, I’d probably find it painful."
An Shiyu fell silent for a moment before facing him fully. "Why?"
"For me, being able to vividly remember the pain of losing a loved one, even decades later as if it were yesterday… that sounds terrifying." Ye Shuang smiled faintly.
"Some memories are better left to time to fade."
An Shiyu scoffed. "You sound like an old man. You’re not even thirty yet. Did someone close to you die recently?"
"My parents."
An Shiyu’s lazy demeanor faded. She held out her milk tea. "Here."
"What’s this for?" Ye Shuang was confused.
"Feels like I put my foot in my mouth. You can have a sip as an apology."
Ye Shuang’s lips twitched. Wasn’t this basically an indirect kiss? Were girls these days really this bold?
"Not interested? It’s an indirect kiss, you know."
"You’re aware of that?!"
"Yep. But it’s my first kiss, so this is your only chance. Someone as cute as me doesn’t come around often." An Shiyu withdrew her hand.
Ye Shuang: "..."
He found that talking to this girl always threw him off balance—somehow making him want to both scold her and play along.
"But old man, I agree with you," An Shiyu continued. "A perfect memory isn’t necessarily a good thing. Unlike the people around me, who always go on about how amazing it is."
"People have different perspectives. So why are you out here?" What Ye Shuang really wanted to know was what An Shiyu’s family did. How could her teachers just let her skip school like this?
"Just wanted some milk tea." She brushed off the question, then suddenly pointed at a sign in the distance. "Hey, old man, look at that."
Ye Shuang followed her finger and saw a sign advertising hourly hotel rooms for 10 yuan.
"Interested? My treat," An Shiyu said.
"What the—do you even know what hourly hotels are for?"
Unlike Ye Shuang’s stunned expression, An Shiyu remained completely unfazed. "Of course. It’s where men and women go to spar."
"Old man, are you not up for it? Or are you imagining something naughty?"
Ye Shuang looked at her seriously. "Much naughtier than you’re thinking."
"I like that answer. Let’s go." An Shiyu tossed her empty cup into a nearby trash bin and grabbed Ye Shuang’s hand, dragging him toward the hotel.