Growing Up

"It is almost ten o'clock, why isn't this girl up yet?" Ye Shuang sat on the sofa in the living room and noticed the time was approaching ten. Usually, on school days, Bai Yuyou would wake up around seven or just before eight.

"Well... it is winter break anyway, letting her sleep a bit longer isn't a bad thing."

"Or she could eat breakfast first and then go back to sleep."

Ye Shuang glanced at the breakfast on the dining table; if it got any later, they could just eat lunch directly.

Thinking of this, he still went upstairs to the door of Bai Yuyou's room. Seeing the door was only slightly ajar, Ye Shuang knocked gently. When there was no sound from inside, he pushed the door open and walked in.

Bai Yuyou was indeed fast asleep on the bed. This girl still hadn't changed her bad habit of sleeping wearing nothing but white stockings—although Ye Shuang didn't know why she didn't wear underwear and only wore stockings, either way, it was easy to catch a cold in the current weather.

"Yuyou, Yuyou." Ye Shuang sat on the edge of the bed. He first pulled over a blanket from the corner and covered the young woman with it before calling out to her.

Perhaps hearing Ye Shuang's voice, Bai Yuyou groggily opened her beautiful eyes.

When she saw Ye Shuang by the bed, she looked like a caterpillar wrapped in the blanket, wiggling a few times before resting her head on his thigh. "Sleepy, hug."

"Still sleepy?" Ye Shuang couldn't help but wonder if he shouldn't have come to wake Bai Yuyou up. After all, it was a rare winter break, and he should let her rest well.

"Then you go back to sleep." Ye Shuang stood up, wanting to leave the room first, but noticed his shirt corner being tugged. He looked down and saw Bai Yuyou reaching out a small hand to hold him.

"Ye Shuang, it has been a long time since you held me to sleep."

"I hate growing up. I can't even stay with Ye Shuang all the time."

Bai Yuyou's voice carried a hint of half-asleep, soft grogginess. Ye Shuang froze for a few seconds, then reached out and gently stroked her head. "The adult world isn't about doing whatever you want, you know."

"I want to... cuddle with Ye Shuang and sleep."

Saying this, the young woman's soft cheek rubbed against Ye Shuang's thigh.

Ye Shuang lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on Bai Yuyou. Half a minute later, he slowly lay down and gently patted her back as if coaxing her to sleep.

"Sleep, I will sleep with you for a while."

Bai Yuyou's body seemed to relax instantly. She buried herself deeply into Ye Shuang's embrace and clung to him as she fell asleep.

Ye Shuang didn't close his eyes, however. He rested his chin on the young woman's head, smelling the faint floral scent drifting to his nose, and gently stroked the delicate skin of her back.

He felt a bit lost.

...

Bai Yuyou didn't sleep long, waking up after about half an hour.

However, the young woman still lingered in Ye Shuang's arms without moving. If Ye Shuang hadn't felt her occasional deep breaths, he really wouldn't have noticed.

"Alright, time to get up." Pinching Bai Yuyou's small face and seeing that she was only wearing stockings, Ye Shuang got up and lectured her while not forgetting to open the wardrobe.

"Yuyou, how about we go mountain climbing today?" Ye Shuang asked.

"Mountain climbing..."

"Yes, mountain climbing," Ye Shuang said. "Hmm... mountain climbing is good exercise, you can breathe fresh air, and you can also sketch and paint at the top of the mountain. Sounds good, right?"

"Okay." Bai Yuyou nodded immediately. Actually, she didn't care where they went, as long as she could be by Ye Shuang's side.

"Do you think we should invite Keke along?" Ye Shuang asked. After all, Keke and Bai Yuyou had been inseparable lately, so he thought it best to ask beforehand.

Hearing this, Bai Yuyou shook her head. "Keke being there... is a bit noisy, and..."

"She won't be able to climb it," the young woman pointed out bluntly.

Ye Shuang really couldn't argue with that. He figured Keke would probably start whining to go home halfway up the mountain; after all, she was a natural-born homebody.

Moreover, after finishing their exams yesterday, judging by Keke's tone, she was probably going on an anime-watching binge. It was unlikely she wouldn't watch until the sky went dark. Plus, she had some comic convention to attend during the winter break and even had to sew her own cosplay costumes.

Overall, it seemed she was quite busy.

"Wear this." Ye Shuang took out some clothes. It was a simple tracksuit; since they were going mountain climbing, she shouldn't wear inconvenient clothes. She couldn't very well wear a skirt or jeans.

"Ye Shuang, help me put it on." Bai Yuyou reached out her arms.

"Put on your underwear first." Seeing Bai Yuyou's slimes, Ye Shuang looked away and then took out her underwear. "Here, wear this."

But he suddenly felt that picking out underwear for her wasn't very appropriate.

"Yuyou, you had better change by yourself. I will go out first."

"Ye Shuang, you are wasting time," Bai Yuyou said. After all, Ye Shuang had already taken the clothes out, and now he was going to put them back.

Ye Shuang: "..."

Why was he being lectured by Bai Yuyou?

After preparing her clothes, the two went downstairs to eat breakfast. Perhaps because it had been sitting out for a while, Ye Shuang popped the breakfast into the microwave to heat it up a bit.

It wasn't until just after eleven o'clock that the two finally headed out.

Ye Shuang was driving the small sports car today, as it was Bai Yuyou's favorite. In her words, she really liked sitting in the small car with Ye Shuang because it made her feel like they were closer together.

However, in terms of driving comfort, this small sports car was naturally far inferior to the Maybach the company provided him.

Since Yuyou liked it, it didn't matter.

After getting in the car, Ye Shuang noticed that Bai Yuyou seemed to be in a very good mood. She hugged a cushion, the ahoge on her head sticking straight up.

Beside her was a small bag containing painting tools like a drawing board—Bai Yuyou planned to find a beautiful spot on the mountain to sketch.

Seeing this, Ye Shuang smiled slightly and put on some soothing music.

Even though it was the transition from winter to spring, the sun in Haizhu City today felt like a lingering shadow of summer. Even after getting out of the car at their destination, Ye Shuang felt a bit hot.

Perhaps because of the winter break, Ye Shuang noticed quite a few adults bringing their children, as well as some student-aged boys and girls who seemed to be there to climb the mountain.

"It really is lively," Ye Shuang said. Beside him, Bai Yuyou also tilted her head up to look toward the top of the mountain.

The mountain was covered in green vegetation, and the winding mountain boardwalks looked like ribbons wrapped around it layer by layer.

But soon, the view of the mountaintop darkened. Bai Yuyou noticed a small hat had been placed over her face.

She straightened it with both hands and noticed Ye Shuang's smile. "Does it look good?"

Bai Yuyou held the hat and nodded gently.

"It looks even better."