Li Shiyan is a girl, so Xia Yanchun didn't have many reservations when taking photos with her.
Whether pretending to kiss her cheek, making peace signs, or forming a heart shape with their hands, it all felt normal. The premise for this normalcy was that the other person had to be a girl like her; otherwise, it would seem particularly ambiguous.
Shen Nian is a boy.
Although she really didn't want to see Shen Nian as a boy—or even as a person—that was impossible.
Shen Nian is a good-looking guy with healthy skin and a height of 180 cm. That is an indisputable fact!
"No kissing on the cheek..." she could only mutter softly. They weren't at that stage in their relationship yet!
"Alright then, let's make a heart shape," Shen Nian said with a grin.
"...Ugh, you're impossible. Stay away from me, okay?" Xia Yanchun scooted away from Shen Nian's side. Originally they were close, but now there was a gap about the size of a fist between them.
Shen Nian found it quite amusing; he felt like the two of them were acting like thieves.
Xia Yanchun let out a soft hum, stretched her hand towards Shen Nian to form half a heart shape, then quickly pulled it back. Pouting, she said, "H-how about we don't do this either? Let's just do a peace sign."
"That works too. Come closer."
"Mm..."
Is this guy not even going to try to persuade me?
If a peace sign is fine, then what was all that about just now? I had already decided to indulge him and make a heart shape with him for the photo. So annoying. Men. I'm turning to the dark side.
After adjusting the machine, Xia Yanchun reluctantly took the photo with Shen Nian. Even though she was the one who dragged Shen Nian to take the sticker photo, in the end, she was the one with a red face, expressionlessly holding up a peace sign. Shen Nian, who initially didn't want to take it, was the one grinning happily.
The two were almost pressed together, mostly because Shen Nian kept leaning towards her. This closeness felt even more ambiguous than forming a heart shape with a fist's distance between them...
Holding the printed photo, Xia Yanchun clicked her tongue. "I thought you really didn't want to take it. Aren't you smiling really happily here?"
"I'm smiling because I got to put my arm around you, not because of the photo, Chunbao. Your blushing face kinda looks like a baked sweet potato."
"Drop dead!"
Xia Yanchun instantly got annoyed. She forcibly dragged Shen Nian to take another set of sticker photos, this time with pig nose and pig ear special effects. She waited until the heat in her face had mostly subsided before finally letting Shen Nian leave.
Li Shiyan had already gone to sit at a spot not far away. Xia Yanchun hurried over, showed Li Shiyan the photo of Shen Nian with the pig face filter, and they laughed at him together.
Except Li Shiyan didn't dare laugh too openly, holding it in so much that her mouth was pressed into a straight line.
Shen Nian picked at his ear. "What time is it? Aren't we leaving yet?"
Urged by him, Xia Yanchun and Li Shiyan quickly gathered their things.
The bus stop was in another direction. Li Shiyan waved to Xia Yanchun and ran off alone to catch the bus. Only when it was just the two of them did Xia Yanchun completely relax.
"Let's go home!"
"Wait a sec. Gotta buy a milk tea for my sis. Just got a text."
"Hurry up, hurry up."
Xia Yanchun pushed him as they ran. Arriving at the milk tea shop, she watched Shen Nian queue up to order with eager anticipation.
Having fruit tea after hot pot was a delightful thing.
"Got you a fruit tea. No need to thank me."
"That's the least you could do. I wasn't planning on thanking you anyway."
Xia Yanchun lowered her eyelids, like a girl who had just found some sweet preserves. Just moments ago she was annoyed with Shen Nian, and now, inexplicably, she felt like this.
Shen Nian couldn't figure out her thoughts. He drove her back to their residential complex.
Before they even reached the elevator, he performed a jump shot and accurately tossed the empty fruit tea bottle into the trash bin.
That was genuinely cool.
In the elevator, Shen Nian couldn't resist playing with a strand of Xia Yanchun's hair again. He wanted to say something flirty, but the image from the sticker photo booth flashed in his mind, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
In the end, he could only pinch Xia Yanchun's soft cheek.
"By the way, where are the photos?"
"With me. Why?"
"You're not giving them to me? Where's my copy?"
"I paid for them, so they're all mine. Why should I give them to you?"
"Weren't there two copies?"
"Still mine. I paid."
The corner of Shen Nian's mouth twitched as his mind went into overdrive.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking if I've ever given you underwear or something like that before."
"..."
So you want it back, huh?!
Xia Yanchun immediately felt he was being a creep. She was already drafting a post in her mind to expose Shen Nian on Xiaohongshu for public criticism.
He really deserved to be called out, because it was genuinely creepy—the kind that would make any other girl think Shen Nian was a pervert.
She was different. Her baseline for Shen Nian was set pretty low; she had long since labeled him a weirdo. So, when Shen Nian occasionally acted perverted, it was nothing special to her, just ordinary.
Ugh, Shen Nian has conditioned me.
Xia Yanchun's face darkened, deciding to give him the silent treatment and make him guess why.
Shen Nian didn't even pay attention to her mood, just kept messing with her hair to his heart's content.
Back home, they realized Shen Yue wasn't there. Shen Nian went and knocked on her door to wake her up.
"Still sleeping, still sleeping. It's almost dark and you're still asleep."
"I wasn't asleep!" With a click, Shen Yue opened the door. Her hair was a mess, and she looked disheveled, though not quite like someone just woken up.
She probably brushed her teeth, washed her face, and then went back to her room to laze around. That was typical Shen Yue, lazy as a pig.
"Your hot pot leftovers, your milk tea. Just wire me 50."
"All you know is asking your big sister for money," Shen Yue said listlessly, quickly transferring 100 to Shen Nian, then took the food and sat on the sofa.
Asking for fifty but getting a hundred? That's a true boss lady.
Xia Yanchun is a wicked woman.
Midterm exams were on Tuesday, so Shen Nian spent the entire afternoon studying.
Intermediate-level study materials were like lolis in his eyes; he breezed through three sections in one afternoon. Checking the answers later, he got most of them right.
If he took the college entrance exam now, his score wouldn't be low. There was just still a bit of a gap compared to Xia Yanchun.
It's within reach!
At night, Shen Nian had just come out of the bathroom.
The weather was getting colder, so even Shen Nian was taking hot showers. The bathroom was full of steam.
His hair was still damp. He was about to go back to his room to play a bit of that highly acclaimed game when Shen Yue suddenly called out to him.
"Bro, there's a small box of candy-sweet grapes in the fridge. Find some time to take them over to little Chun."
"What? When did you buy those?" Shen Nian opened the fridge and saw it was true.
"Mom mailed them over. I wanted to ask you to pick up the package, but I thought you were studying since your room was quiet, so I got it myself. We'll keep a small box; the rest are for her."
"I really was studying. Who in the world would still be sleeping in their room in the afternoon? Who's that much of a lazy pig? Would you do that, sis?"
"Say one more word and see what happens? Believe me, this slipper will fly to your head."
Now Shen Nian understood. So Xia Yanchun's constant urge to stuff a shoe in his mouth was learned from Shen Yue.
...
Xia Yanchun sat at her desk, putting the photo she took with Shen Nian today into a small photo album.
She flipped through from the beginning. Now she had photos with Shen Nian from elementary school, middle school, and high school all together.
No particular reason, she just wanted to take them. Like those completionists in games, she felt off if something was missing from the collection.
Isn't it strange that two people who have always hung out together can't find a single photo of them in the same frame? I've only known Li Shiyan for a little over two years, and we already have several pictures together.
Anyway, it just looks much more pleasing to the eye.
Knock, knock!
Xia Yanchun jumped, startled by the sudden knocking at the door.
There was no sound from outside. She peered through the peephole and only dared to open the door when she saw it was Shen Nian.
"What is it? Don't you have a key? You scared me half to death knocking," Xia Yanchun said, her tone faintly accusatory.
But being a head shorter than Shen Nian, even if she were truly angry, her intimidation factor against him was negligible at best, let alone when it was just a minor complaint.
"Wouldn't it be even scarier if I just opened the door with my key?"
"Hmm, what's this?" Xia Yanchun chose to change the subject.
"Here, some fruit my mom sent over."
Xia Yanchun took it and looked. "Oh, you actually remembered to bring me some. Considerate of you. There are two 'Peanut Nobles' ice creams left in the freezer, go help yourself."
"Did Chunbao just take a shower?" Shen Nian gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, smiling faintly.
"So what if I did..."
Whenever she heard Shen Nian call her 'Chunbao,' Xia Yanchun felt like he was setting up for a combo move.
Often, before she knew it, her shoulder would be draped over, her waist would be hugged, her hand would be held, or she'd be pulled into an embrace...
Better to be cautious!
"It's been so long since I've come over to your place to hang out." Shen Nian slipped past her, making his way into the girl's bedroom.
"It hasn't been that long at all! Hey, don't just barge into a girl's room without permission!"
Yanxi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for 3 million+ daily visits causing excessive server pressure, it is now recommended that you use sources from other esteemed providers.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
e school belle recognized by the whole school, a genius girl from the kendo club. She also has a hidden identity, the youngest legendary demon hunter. Chen Shuo just transmigrated and found himself turned into a weak, helpless little vampire. He was caught by Su Xiyen and taken home at the very beginning. Since then, Chen Shuo's life creed only had two items. "First, classmate Su Xiyen is always right." "Second, if classmate Su Xiyen is wrong, please refer back to item one." Many years later, Chen Shuo, who had turned back into a human, led a pair of twins to appear in front of all the vampires to share the secret of how he turned back into a human. "It's simple, I tricked a female demon hunter into becoming my wife!"
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
