Rewarding Shen Nian for Calling Herself 'Wife' Twice

After the New Year, the start of the school term was not far away.

None of the teachers assigned winter break homework. Shen Nian spent the entire winter break studying on his own. He went through the required materials for all three years, reinforced his memory for things that needed memorization, and completed quite a few exercise books.

Reviewing the old to learn the new was still very useful. If he had not flipped through the books again, he would not have realized he had memorized some characters in ancient poems incorrectly. If they appeared on a test, he would have been deducted two points.

At the 700-point level, losing two points would not affect applying to university, but it would affect getting first place.

Shen Yue had already returned to the city. Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun also had to go back early to clean up and do chores, so they were currently packing their things.

Wen Zhining was helping to tidy up in Xia Yanchun's room. Later, she had to drive the two kids to the entrance of the town. She had to go to work in the afternoon, so the two kids could only take the bus to school.

"Is everything packed? Don't realize you forgot something later and have to come back looking for it."

"Yeah... everything is packed."

"Then send a message to Shen Nian and tell him to get down there and get busy."

"Okay."

Watching her daughter look down to send the message, Wen Zhining smiled subconsciously.

Her daughter was so excellent and had a good temper; she would definitely be very successful in the future.

Although Shen Nian was also impressive, during their freshman and sophomore years, there was still a gap between him and her daughter.

Looking only at grades, it was the gap between a regular first-tier university and Tsinghua or Peking University.

Now Shen Nian had become a dark horse, and the two of them were practically tied in grades. Did this count as being positively influenced by the company one keeps?

"Do you tutor Shen Nian at school?" Wen Zhining asked curiously, resting her chin in her hand.

"Yes, I quiz him on his English vocabulary... but I haven't taught him that much. He learns from the teachers, and he worked very hard himself to get such good grades."

"Really? Shen Nian is that impressive."

"Yes, yes, he even exercises every day. He can do over a hundred push-ups and a lot of pull-ups. Our teachers praise Shen Nian all the time."

"..."

Who asked you so much?

Why does it feel like a love-struck girl showing off her boyfriend? Is this an illusion?

And how did her daughter even know how many push-ups Shen Nian could do? This...

She held Xia Yanchun's hand. "Little Chun, what do you think of Shen Nian?"

Xia Yanchun blinked, suddenly feeling guilty.

Why ask this all of a sudden? Was something discovered...?!

"He's alright, just average."

"Is that so."

Wen Zhining found it amusing. She had just hyped him up so much, how did he suddenly become just average?

Not being honest.

"Mom, Shen Nian is already downstairs."

With a buzz from her phone, Xia Yanchun saw Shen Nian's reply and quickly showed it to Wen Zhining.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

For the first time, she felt that chatting with her mother could be so nerve-wracking. This message came at the perfect time. When they got back to the city, she could reward Shen Nian by letting him call her wife a couple of times.

Xia Yanchun hurriedly grabbed her luggage and went downstairs, immediately spotting Shen Nian standing at the door hugging his backpack.

Shen Nian was still wearing the same outfit. He only had those few clothes to cycle through. Ever since she picked out a jacket for him, she had not really seen him wear any other jacket. If Shen Nian ever changed his jacket, it was definitely because the one she picked was being washed.

"Did you just wake up?" Seeing Shen Nian's messy hair, Xia Yanchun tilted her head.

"No."

"Your hair is so messy."

"Damn it."

Shen Nian wanted to sprint back home, but he had already locked the front door when he came out. Finding it too troublesome, he simply walked over to the car and looked in the rearview mirror.

It really was a bit messy; this is what happens when hair gets long.

"Time for a haircut."

"Who told you not to style your hair normally."

"It's only messy today." Shen Nian smoothed it out haphazardly, pressing down the cowlicks. It looked much better now.

Wen Zhining came down slowly, locked the front gate, and unlocked the car to let the two kids in.

"Don't you two argue when you get there. You're practically adults now, arguing is so childish."

"Auntie, I never want to argue with Xia Yanchun. Every time we fight, Xia Yanchun is the one who picks a fault first."

"Get lost." Xia Yanchun punched him.

"Wow, you're getting physical now, and you still say you're not picking a fault."

If she was like this in front of Auntie Wen, wouldn't he be beaten black and blue by Xia Yanchun once they got to the city?

It seemed like they were flirting. Wen Zhining did not know what to say.

Arriving at the town entrance, both Xia Yanchun and Shen Nian got out of the car and watched Wen Zhining turn the car around to go home.

There were only a few scattered people at the town entrance, clearly students at first glance. Most schools were starting their terms around this time. There were also a few young guys with bowl cuts looking very energetic, giving the vibe that they were good at popping wheelies on their modified scooters.

"Chunbao."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, just wanted to call you."

Shen Nian nudged Xia Yanchun and slipped her small hand into his pocket.

The boy's jacket pocket was quite large, spacious enough for him to interlock fingers with Xia Yanchun and gently massage her hand inside.

How could a boyfriend and girlfriend not hold hands?

Xia Yanchun pulled her scarf a bit looser to cover half her face, a pink bubble of happiness rising in her heart.

Waiting for the bus would take a bit more time. A gust of cold wind swept past, and Xia Yanchun shrank her neck, looking up at Shen Nian. This guy surprisingly had no reaction at all.

"Aren't you cold?"

"Not cold."

"I'm cold."

"Freeze to death then."

Even as Shen Nian said this, he had already started turning sideways to try and block the wind for Xia Yanchun.

They finally waited until the bus arrived. Shen Nian hurried onto the bus and sat in the back row with Xia Yanchun.

The bus was only half full. Lacking the usual loud aunties, it felt a bit quiet. The young people all liked wearing earphones. Perhaps it was too cold, as even the energetic bowl-cut guys did not seem energetic anymore.

As soon as they sat down, Xia Yanchun leaned against Shen Nian. She always liked doing this when sitting next to him, both in the past and now.

After all, leaning on Shen Nian was really comfortable.

Even before things were as good as they were now, Shen Nian would let her lean on him, just like she would brush Shen Nian's hair back.

The engine roared, and the trees by the road rapidly receded. The whole world seemed to be covered in a cold-toned filter, which became more obvious the colder it got.

"Here." Shen Nian pulled out a pair of Bluetooth earphones.

Xia Yanchun took one and put it in her ear. While Shen Nian was looking for a song, her hand felt its way onto Shen Nian's leg and pulled his other hand up.

Her small palm could not fully cover the back of Shen Nian's hand. She traced the veins on the back of his hand, occasionally pressing her fingernails down to leave a shallow crescent mark.

She suddenly realized that Shen Nian's hands looked really nice.

"Shen Nian... Nianbao..."

"Hmm, hmm?"

Being called twice by Xia Yanchun, Shen Nian responded twice.

"Hehe, just wanted to call you."

"Chunbao, my heart is going to flutter."

"Is your self-control that poor? I don't even react when you call me Chunbao."

"That's just because you rarely call me that. If you called me Nianbao every day, I wouldn't react either."

Xia Yanchun nodded. "Then I definitely shouldn't call you that in the future, otherwise you'll get used to it."

"It's fine. The reason I don't call you older sister is because I think the same way."

"I'll hit you, you're not allowed to think like that!"

Shen Nian played a soothing English song, and they listened to it leisurely for the whole trip.