If someone who often argues with you, often annoys you, and often tries to compete with you on grades suddenly praises you, it's definitely a case of the weasel paying a New Year's call to the chicken—all with an ulterior motive.
But being praised by Shen Nian made Xia Yanchun feel really good. Even if Shen Nian truly had other intentions, she didn't really mind.
After all, it was Shen Nian.
Xia Yanchun hummed smugly, returning the courtesy, "Actually, you're not bad either, scoring over seven hundred."
"Pretty awesome, right?"
"Awesome, awesome." Xia Yanchun patted his head, wanting to coax Shen Nian into being her puppy.
Shen Nian took the opportunity to wrap her soft little hand in his palm. In the classroom with both doors closed and the curtains drawn, his fondness for Xia Yanchun became utterly unconcealed.
"Mmm..." Xia Yanchun offered her other hand into his grasp as well.
The weather was chilly, her hands were icy, but Shen Nian was warm.
If they were at home, she'd really want to tuck her feet into Shen Nian's arms and have him warm them up.
"Where's your hot water bottle?"
"It's in my backpack. It's been cold for a while now; I can only recharge it when I sleep later."
"That's just perfect." Shen Nian grinned.
"Perfect what? My hands were so stiff during the last two classes this morning that my handwriting turned ugly, and you say it's perfect?"
"If you used the hot water bottle, I'd be out of a job. Now that you can't use it, of course I have to say it's perfect." Shen Nian intertwined his fingers with hers, warming her fingertips.
"What job? You actually consider warming my hands a job?!" Xia Yanchun pouted. "This isn't a job; it's your duty, something you're supposed to do."
"This sounds like emotional manipulation. I suspect you've been emotionally manipulating me since we were kids."
"No way. Hitting you back then was just because you annoyed me."
"Six-six-six, dropping the act now?"
"You didn't hit me any less back then, wasn't it also because I annoyed you?"
"Damn, you're right."
Xia Yanchun's two hands fidgeted restlessly within the enclosure of Shen Nian's palms, wanting to dig her nails into his flesh. But her nails were always kept neatly trimmed, making it hard to even leave a mark—more like a kitten's scratch.
Shen Nian's Adam's apple bobbed.
"Actually..." Xia Yanchun chattered on, "even if I used a hot water bottle, you could still warm my hands. It's not like the hot water bottle is the only option."
The hot water bottle was originally for keeping herself warm when Shen Nian wasn't around, just to avoid getting chilblains from the cold. But today was only seven or eight degrees Celsius. Compared to a hot water bottle, she still preferred Shen Nian's body heat.
She really envied Shen Nian's constitution, being so warm even in winter.
"You want to have all the good things." Shen Nian laughed.
"You've got it backwards. You were the one who wanted to hold my hand just now, you know."
"Whoa, why didn't you say so earlier?"
Facing each other, Xia Yanchun watched her hands being kneaded and squeezed by Shen Nian, her mind wandering off somewhere.
So comfortable... she felt like she was about to bubble over with happiness.
Having a younger brother like this was just too, too, too amazing!
"And also, could you please not be so handsy with me in front of other people? It's really off-putting, you know." Xia Yanchun mumbled again.
Things like holding hands or fiddling with her hair—if others saw, it would be so embarrassing! Only a thick-skinned Shen Nian would dare do these things in public, and he doesn't get embarrassed at all!
"I'll dare to do it again next time." Shen Nian chuckled.
"Jerk, I hate you so much."
"That means you like me."
Xia Yanchun immediately bumped her forehead against his, huffing angrily, "Do you know, Shi Yan even asked me if you were chasing me!"
"How audacious! She took my candy and still didn't keep her mouth shut? I'll make her cry this afternoon."
"Get lost! So, you should be less handsy, understand?!"
"Understood, understood." Shen Nian also bumped her forehead with his. "So, what did you say?"
"I..." Xia Yanchun batted her almond-shaped eyes, "I said you were my simp, hehe."
"?"
Darn it, Xia Yanchun, you're truly something else.
Shen Nian laughed in exasperation, suddenly letting go of her hands. He shifted his chair, pushing the two chairs together, and one hand slipped to Xia Yanchun's waist, gently pulling her closer.
The last bit of distance between them vanished.
"Being a simp is fine. So, can I... you know... simp a little?"
"?!"
No way! Shen Nian's skin is really too thick!
"Oh, right, the school is holding a coming-of-age ceremony next week. Find a chance to tell your parents." Seeing that Shen Nian really seemed about to nuzzle her face, Xia Yanchun quickly changed the subject, bringing up serious business.
"You're so well-informed?"
"I heard it when I went to the office to get something. The teacher will probably hold a class meeting to talk about it. Usually, the coming-of-age ceremony is in the first semester of senior year."
"Whatever. Let's get back to discussing whether I can simp a little."
Yanxi reminds you: Due to Tomato's request for over 3 million daily visits causing excessive server pressure, it is now recommended that you use sources from other big players.
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
transmigrates into the role of a villainous rich second-generation kid in an urban fantasy novel, and gets bound to a god-tier choice system. Right at the start, he catches the female lead stealing exam papers! This triggers the villain's choice options! [Choice 1: Pretend you didn't see anything] [Choice 2: Loudly call her out, drawing everyone's attention] [Choice 3: ...] And thus, a twisted villain is born. To avoid getting killed by the protagonist, he has no choice but to take down all the protagonists first. Jiang Che: Nobody understands being twisted better than me!
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
