Clearly, they are childhood sweethearts who grew up together.

Shen Nian arrived at the vegetable market and swiftly sold his fish.

However, as it was noon, there weren't many people shopping at the market. He had squatted there for almost an hour before finally selling all the fish.

Half an hour of fishing, two hundred bucks in earnings, and he was just setting up a stall on the spot, not like those other stalls that had to pay rent.

Shen Nian was half-afraid the fish market boss would come charging out to give him a beating.

Although it was a bit unethical, there was no rule against small-scale vendors like him selling fish at the market. You often saw elderly folks bringing their own goods to set up small stalls.

It was a pity he didn't run into the bespectacled uncle from last time.

The fishmonger is still here, but the fish buyer is nowhere to be seen.

After buying two fruit teas, Shen Nian rode his little electric scooter back to the residential complex.

The small paths in the complex were littered with fallen leaves, and the benches had grown patches of brown stains.

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves. Shen Nian spotted a furtive figure.

A low ponytail, trousers and a jacket, and on her head, a very cute fluffy hat... Who brought this little Loli here?

"What are you looking for?" Shen Nian watched her for quite a while. Seeing her look up and down repeatedly without noticing him at all, he finally let out a helpless sound.

Li Shiyan suddenly turned around, her big eyes blinking rapidly. She was a bit startled, not expecting to run into Shen Nian here.

"I, I came to play with Xiao Chun, but I've looked around and couldn't find Building 3..." She fidgeted a little, her small hands nervously plucking at her clothes.

"Building 3 is over here." Shen Nian pointed. "Come on up with me."

"Oh, okay."

Knowing Shen Nian lived across from Xia Yanchun, Li Shiyan trotted after him, getting into the elevator together. In the small elevator, her heart thumped nervously, feeling a bit awkward.

She had originally wanted to come secretly, without Shen Nian knowing, but she couldn't find the building. Not wanting Xia Yanchun to come down to get her, she kept her head down searching, and before she found Building 3, she found Shen Nian first.

"Do you live here too?" Li Shiyan asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, right across from your bestie." Shen Nian grinned, glancing at the milk tea in her hand and dismissing the thought of giving them the fruit tea.

Exiting the elevator, the door to Xia Yanchun's apartment was open. Standing in the doorway was a girl wearing only shorts and a t-shirt, waiting specifically for Li Shiyan.

"Xiao Chun!"

"Hehe, I was just about to go down and look for you. You took so long to come up."

Xia Yanchun and Li Shiyan hugged, their closeness almost giving off a 'yuri' vibe. Only then did Xia Yanchun hurriedly glance at Shen Nian before instantly looking away, pursing her lips without a word. She ushered Li Shiyan inside and then slammed the door shut.

Shen Nian: "..."

Last night, she was clinging to me, wanting to sleep, and let me play with her hand for an hour. Today, she's a stranger.

This is practically the definition of 'pulling up your pants and acting like you don't know someone'.

If I weren't so slick, I'd have been completely strung along by Chun Bao. Guess I'm just one step ahead.

He hadn't planned on seeing Xia Yanchun anyway, since they agreed not to seek each other out. But running into Li Shiyan on the way... what could he do?

Guess we'll be strangers for a day.

...

"Did you two have a fight?"

Inside the room, Li Shiyan felt the atmosphere between Xia Yanchun and Shen Nian was strange.

At the very least, having run into each other, they should have said hello, right? They're always bickering in class, yet at home they're so distant.

The most likely possibility was a conflict last night.

"Not really." Xia Yanchun didn't want to say too much to her bestie and shook her head. "I just don't feel like dealing with him."

Li Shiyan's big eyes blinked. They definitely had a fight. Otherwise, how could two such close people not even exchange a word when they meet?

If she met anyone she knew outside, she would greet them. Not greeting someone means they're a really, really annoying person.

But she couldn't say much more, as it was their own personal conflict.

Li Shiyan had bought milk tea and shared it with Xia Yanchun, chattering away about lots of little bits of gossip.

Who in class might have a thing for who, which teacher showed off their daughter on social media, and they even talked a bit about schoolwork, their little mouths chattering non-stop.

The bed Shen Nian couldn't casually get on, Li Shiyan was already sitting on casually, sitting in a 'seiza' pose. Sometimes they would playfully tease each other with smiles, or rummage around everywhere, trying to dig up some of Xia Yanchun's little secrets to tease her about later.

Besties are meant to be teased, after all.

Li Shiyan rummaged through Xia Yanchun's desk drawer and pulled out a small booklet. Curious, she flipped through it and discovered it was photos of Xia Yanchun as a child, which delighted her.

"Xiao Chun, you were so chubby when you were little, hahahaha."

"Nonsense!" Xia Yanchun squatted next to Li Shiyan to look. "It's normal to be a bit chubby when you're little. It's called baby fat."

"Hehehe, looks like a dummy."

"You're the dummy."

Xia Yanchun chuckled softly. This little booklet was a growth album. She remembered her mom made it, and she brought it with her when she moved.

But with so many books in senior year, even with the books needed for all three years of high school mostly kept at school, there were still some extra books and old test papers that weren't thrown away or sold. They could only be brought home and stuffed into various drawers. Over time, this little booklet got buried under a pile of test papers at the very bottom, and she had almost forgotten about it.

"You actually managed to dig this out."

"Hehe, I often stuff my drawings in my desk. Whenever I remember, I take them out to look at my old drawings. The ugly ones are always at the very bottom, serving as embarrassing black history. Things at the very bottom are definitely things you don't want others to see!"

"That's not necessarily true. It's not like it's a dirty book."

"Do you have any dirty books?"

"Of course not!"

Li Shiyan let out an "aww" sound; she had wanted to see one.

Flipping further, there was a class photo from Xia Yanchun's elementary school, laminated and tucked inside the booklet. Li Shiyan spotted Xia Yanchun immediately.

Her bestie was, of course, the prettiest one.

"Huh, is this Shen Nian?" Li Shiyan pointed at a little kid standing on a chair in the back row.

Xia Yanchun leaned in closer to look. Little Shen Nian was still so cute, completely different from the current Shen Nian!

"Looks so ugly, must be Shen Nian," she said.

"Ugly? I think he looks okay. He was only in elementary school, hadn't grown into his features yet."

"Super ugly."

Li Shiyan raised an eyebrow, sensing Xia Yanchun seemed full of hostility towards Shen Nian. Yet, just yesterday, they were walking home together...

What major event happened last night? She really wanted to know!

"So you and Shen Nian knew each other that early? You were even classmates."

"Mmhmm, the town's elementary school only had two classes per grade, so everyone knew each other somewhat. For middle school, there was an entrance placement test. Shen Nian and I scored similarly, so we were in the same class again."

"Wow, childhood sweethearts!"

Last time her bestie said they were just from the same hometown!

From elementary to high school, always in the same class, growing up together, living next door, now living across from each other, always bickering until today... and she said they were just from the same hometown?!

They're clearly childhood sweethearts who grew up together!

So, so, so, so, so—so shippable!

"It's not like that. What childhood sweethearts? We're just from the same village."

"Hehe, you two are really close."

Xia Yanchun grumbled, "Not close at all."

He had already made it clear he wanted to eat the grass right by his own nest. Even a good relationship had to be made to seem bad, otherwise she'd come off as too easy.

Besides, the grass by the nest isn't something you can just eat whenever you want!

After finishing the whole booklet, Li Shiyan's eyes curved into happy crescents. She felt thoroughly pleased, thinking this trip was totally worth it—now she could indulge in her shipping fantasies even more comfortably.

It made her want a childhood sweetheart of her own.

But the moment she thought of the flashy, tacky guys back in her hometown, she immediately dismissed the idea.

Forget a childhood sweetheart, she'd rather have an electronic pet.

"By the way, since you live across from each other, do you usually visit each other's places to hang out?"

"Of course. Shen Nian has an older sister, and I get along really well with her."

"Then you must have been to Shen Nian's room, right? And has Shen Nian been to your room too?"

"What are you asking that for? You're being naughty." Xia Yanchun pinched Li Shiyan's cheeks and pulled them outward, mercilessly teasing the little goofball.

Shen Nian also liked to tease Li Shiyan, but he never got hands-on—he just liked to make a few cheeky comments. She was different: understand Shen Nian, become Shen Nian, surpass Shen Nian!

This is how you properly use the art of being sly, ya!

Li Shiyan was clever. If there wasn't anything to it, she would have just said no. Not giving a direct 'no' meant there was definitely something fishy going on!

After all, it's perfectly normal for childhood sweethearts to visit each other's rooms!

What would two very close people talk about or do in each other's rooms...?

Li Shiyan's mind began to wander wildly. No matter what they talked about or did, it all seemed so ambiguous... Her already not-so-innocent little brain started running out of control, and her face slowly turned a rosy pink.

She was about to can't hold back turning into a chirping shipping bird, wuwu.

·

To...today is also... orz

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