Carrying You Is Like Carrying Half a Side of Pork

Boarders are required to attend evening self-study. After the lively chatter, Li Shiyan dragged Xia Yanchun out to buy daily necessities, taking the chance to browse in Miniso along the way.

Miniso is the kind of place you don't necessarily need to buy anything from, but you absolutely have to step inside if you pass by.

Shen Nian had Li Shiyan on QQ. As soon as he opened her space, he saw this little loli girl had updated her status, posting several updates in quick succession. She posted when they arrived at the residential area, including a photo of Xia Yanchun's living room, and then another post at the mall with a picture of her and Xia Yanchun together—a duo of youthful, invincibly beautiful girls.

Beautiful girls are always a delight to the eyes. Our dear Chun Bao is the invincible sweet-type beauty, while the loli girl is the adorable beauty under 160 cm tall. Shen Nian was happy seeing them and gave a bunch of likes.

Not long after, Li Shiyan sent him a virtual high-five on QQ Space.

For the entire afternoon, Shen Nian was almost fully immersed in his studies. He tried doing the complete 2023 college entrance exam papers for Math and English. His Math score was a steady 138, and for English, excluding the listening section (out of 120 points), he managed to score 104.

His academic performance was now a far cry from what it used to be.

Where are you, Demon King? I kinda miss you, can you come out and see what I'm capable of?

Shen Nian twisted his neck. He wasn't exactly tired, but staying in one position for a long time was still quite uncomfortable.

Shen Yue was still half-asleep on the living room sofa. If she didn't have to work, she'd probably sleep sixteen hours a day. It was work that made her this way; work is a heinous crime.

"Useless Shen Yue, in the two years you've been working, it's either been windy or rainy."

"What nonsense. Useless jailbird brother, go get me two yogurts and then sweep my room and the living room."

"How incredibly lazy."

Shen Nian obediently went to sweep. Without him, this household would fall apart.

Around six o'clock, a video call came through.

Huh?

Why is it my Chun Bao?

Didn't she say today she wouldn't let me go find her? I was all prepared to be a stranger for the day, so how come Chun Bao is contacting me first?

The subject was ready to fight to the death, but the enemy general surrendered—what's going on?

Shen Nian casually put the broom aside and answered the call.

Xia Yanchun's delicate, pretty face appeared on the screen, her skin flushed pink. A noticeable hint of red tinged the corners of her eyes, as if she had just been wronged and was on the verge of tears but holding them back. Her gaze wasn't exactly friendly either.

"Come pick me up at the mall." Xia Yanchun pursed her lips, her tone giving nothing away.

"That doesn't sound like the attitude of someone asking for a favor. What's going on?" Shen Nian asked, puzzled. Looking at Xia Yanchun's background, she was indeed at the mall. What big trouble could happen at a mall...

Li Shiyan squeezed into view beside her, looking anxious. "Um, um, Shen Nian, Xiao Chun sprained her ankle. She can't walk right now, she's in the store..."

"Oh, I thought it was something serious." Shen Nian smirked. A sprained ankle hurts quite a bit, but it's not a huge deal.

For someone who exercises and plays basketball regularly, a simple ankle sprain that doesn't involve ligaments is pretty commonplace. Shen Nian had sprained his a few times back when he was more mischievous.

From what he remembered, this was Xia Yanchun's first time spraining her ankle.

"Where exactly are you?"

"I'll send you a shared location."

Xia Yanchun hmphed and ended the video call. A few seconds later, a location pin was sent to Shen Nian's phone.

Still at a shoe store in the mall.

Shen Nian told Shen Yue, put on his shoes, and headed out. The mall was very close to the residential area, just a ten-minute drive.

Following the shared location, Shen Nian found the two girls sitting on a bench in the mall. Xia Yanchun was fine, just sitting quietly playing on her phone. Li Shiyan kept glancing at Xia Yanchun's foot, fidgeting and looking even more anxious than Xia Yanchun herself.

"What were you guys doing? How do you manage to sprain an ankle on flat ground with smooth tiles?" Shen Nian's teasing voice arrived before he did.

Seeing Shen Nian, Li Shiyan finally let out a sigh of relief. She poked her fingers together and explained, "I dragged Xiao Chun to try on high heels, and then... and then Xiao Chun lost her balance... and... she fell..."

"You can even fall doing that." Shen Nian looked at Xia Yanchun, grinning. "In a way, you're really impressive."

"Stop laughing. Everyone has moments of carelessness. I just lost my balance and twisted my foot. When you were a kid riding a bike, you even chipped your tooth. If it weren't for you losing baby teeth at the time, you'd have a gap every time you smiled."

Xia Yanchun hmphed. This was exactly why she didn't want to call Shen Nian—she knew he'd laugh at her.

Who doesn't have moments of carelessness? She'd never worn high heels before, and since she was here, she wanted to try those sky-high ones—eleven centimeters!

Losing balance and accidentally spraining an ankle is perfectly reasonable, right? Even professional track and field athletes often injure their feet, so her accidental sprain is perfectly understandable too.

"Bringing up black history at the drop of a hat, huh?" Shen Nian chuckled.

"Stop arguing, her foot is already swollen!" Li Shiyan was more anxious than both of them, watching helplessly as the ankle swelled unnaturally. If she hadn't dragged Xiao Chun to try on those high heels, this wouldn't have happened...

"Shen Nian, hurry up and take Xiao Chun back to rest. I'll give you money, can you buy some bruise medicine for her..."

"Shiyan, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. Class is about to start, you should head back to school first."

Li Shiyan hesitated for a moment. Considering Shen Nian was here to accompany her, and evening self-study was almost starting, she finally nodded emphatically. Before leaving, she gave Xia Yanchun a careful hug.

The mall was crowded, but with Li Shiyan gone, it felt like only Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun remained.

"Spraining your ankle just putting on shoes. I crown you the champion." Shen Nian couldn't hold back a laugh, giving a thumbs-up.

"Stop laughing already." Xia Yanchun couldn't help rolling her eyes.

"I didn't look for you today, you're the one who contacted me, okay? Let's be clear on that."

"Got it, got it. Hurry up and help me out. When we pass by a pharmacy later, help me buy some medicine to put on it."

Shen Nian ignored her comment and crouched in front of her. He looked at her left ankle, already swollen after she'd taken off her shoe and sock, and smiled. "Did you cry?"

"No."

"Then you definitely had tears welling up, on the verge of crying, just about to burst into tears."

"So what? It hurt so much, can't I shed a few tears?"

"Crybaby bro, crybaby." Seeing how badly it was swollen, Shen Nian couldn't bear to tease her further.

He stuffed Xia Yanchun's sock into her white cloth shoe, holding it in one hand. He tried supporting Xia Yanchun by her arm. As soon as she stood up, the corner of her eye twitched with pain. She drew in a sharp, cool breath, her face paling slightly. She was clearly in real pain.

"I might as well carry you down," Shen Nian muttered.

"Carry? How...?"

"Bridal style." Shen Nian said, starting to crouch down.

"No, no way!" Xia Yanchun panicked. In public, a princess carry? That would be super embarrassing!

If her foot weren't sprained, she would've definitely stomped on Shen Nian.

"You... you carry me on your back. Carrying me like that is too embarrassing..." Xia Yanchun's voice was tiny.

"Fine, fine. It's not me who's in pain anyway."

Shen Nian turned around and crouched down with his back to her. Xia Yanchun bit her lower lip, glanced left and right, and only then dared to carefully lean onto Shen Nian's back.

Xia Yanchun was a little over one meter sixty, with a well-proportioned figure, estimated to be around a hundred pounds. In the past, Shen Nian might have struggled to carry her, but now he could easily carry her for two laps.

His daily workouts weren't just for show; their benefit was evident now.

Shen Nian stood up effortlessly, holding Xia Yanchun's legs. Since she had specifically changed into long pants and draped a coat over herself before coming out, he wasn't worried about her accidentally exposing anything.

Xia Yanchun merely rested lightly on Shen Nian's shoulders, carefully controlling her upper body to prevent him from getting any undue advantage.

Looking straight ahead over Shen Nian's shoulder, Xia Yanchun secretly observed the glances of people nearby. Being carried like this was still strange, but it was much better than a princess carry. When there were too many people, she simply closed her eyes, practicing a classic case of "out of sight, out of mind."

It wasn't until a warm ray of sunshine fell on her forehead that she belatedly realized Shen Nian had already carried her out of the mall.

Her heart pounded. She could sense Shen Nian's carefulness; his steps were very small, so her foot hardly throbbed painfully from the movement. Lowering her face slightly, she could catch the scent on him, which made her cheeks flush red and her heart bubble with emotion.

"If you're tired, put me down. We can just walk slowly to where you parked," she whispered into Shen Nian's ear, so no one else could hear.

Shen Nian turned his face slightly. "Who do you think you're looking down on? Carrying you is like carrying half a side of pork. Anyone with hands could do it."

"What kind of comparison is that? Can't you say something nicer?"

"Worry about your hair instead. My neck is itching to death."

Xia Yanchun gathered her hair and pouted.

"And you said we'd be the best of friends in the world. I sprained my ankle, and you laughed at me when you came. What kind of 'best in the world' is that?"

"You're fine, aren't you?"

"Who says I'm fine? It hurts like hell!"

"It hurts like hell, but when you video-called me, you still tried to act like it was nothing in front of me. So who else should I laugh at? The fact that you could pretend proves you're okay. If you were really hurt, you wouldn't have that expression. I laugh because you're fine... Just kidding, I'd laugh even if you were hurt."

Shen Nian tried to poke at her little bit of pride.

Xia Yanchun indignantly pinched his ear. "You're completely inhuman! Don't say another word. Hurry up and drive me to buy some medicine!"

"Chunbao... you're squishing me."

"!"

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