Prefer to Walk Ahead

Being called "baby," Shen Nian slept incredibly soundly.

When he opened his eyes, it was already 2 PM. The little figure next to him had woken up early. As soon as he turned his head, he met the girl's dark, round almond eyes.

"Ugh..."

Having Xia Yanchun's thigh pressing down on him all noon, Shen Nian almost thought he was paralyzed.

Immediately following was an intense numbness, like the static snow on an old TV screen.

"You actually talk in your sleep," Xia Yanchun said with a chuckle, raising a finger to poke Shen Nian's cheek.

"How is that possible?"

"It's true."

"Then what did I say?"

"You said you wanted to acknowledge Xia Yanchun as your big sister, and from today onward, you'd be at her beck and call..."

Shen Nian gave a fake smile, just chuckling twice, too lazy to even roast her.

He hadn't even been dreaming. How could words like that come out of his mouth? If she said it was her dream, he might actually believe it.

Waiting for the feeling to return to his leg, Shen Nian slowly sat up and reached over to pull on his school uniform.

"You woke up so early."

"Actually, I just woke up not too long ago."

"Alright, it seems you really aren't a little pig."

"I never was." Xia Yanchun patted her cheeks to wake herself up.

Getting out of bed together with Shen Nian, Xia Yanchun rinsed her mouth with water. Standing in front of the mirror, she raised her arms to tie up her hair, forming a bouncy little ponytail at the back of her head.

Shen Nian could never resist Xia Yanchun's hair. His hands were already mischievously playing with it.

It felt surprisingly good.

Xia Yanchun wasn't annoyed at all. After washing her face, she turned sideways, slapped her towel onto Shen Nian's face to give it a random wipe, and smoothed down his slightly unruly hair.

A textured fringe cut technically required styling, but Shen Nian never seemed to care much about it. At the very least, Xia Yanchun rarely saw him styling his hair in front of the mirror.

Xia Yanchun walked around Shen Nian, sizing him up. Although she really didn't want to admit it, this guy was undeniably handsome. Just standing there, he looked great.

She clearly didn't feel this way during their freshman and sophomore years, but the more she looked at him now, the more pleasing to the eye he became.

Boys didn't have as much going on as girls; they could just put on their shoes and head out. Before leaving, however, Shen Nian grabbed a Green Tongue popsicle and practically french-kissed it as they walked down the street.

Slurp, slurp. Just hearing it made Xia Yanchun feel grossed out.

Seeing the small things to predict the big things, Xia Yanchun felt that Shen Nian would probably slurp her like that in the future...

Ugh, she wanted to throw up.

The more Xia Yanchun thought about it, the more panicked she became, feeling both shy and annoyed as certain vivid images popped into her head. She could kiss Shen Nian, share a stick of candied hawthorn with him, or drink from his water bottle, but if it was going to be like how he ate that Green Tongue... she would be physically uncomfortable.

"Can you eat that a bit faster?" she grumbled, giving Shen Nian a nudge with her elbow.

"What's the rush? The exam isn't until three."

"You're just annoying me."

"Sounds like you're asking for a beating."

Urged on, Shen Nian simply swallowed the rest of the Green Tongue in one bite.

Once you got to the end of it, the thing was no different from jelly. It tasted pretty bad, but considering it had been sold for fifty cents for over a decade, Shen Nian didn't even know if he should complain.

Not to mention that old-fashioned popsicles had gone up to a dollar and tasted worse and worse. Compared to that, the Green Tongue was practically a charity.

They took their time driving to school. It wasn't even two-thirty yet, leaving half an hour before the exam started.

Locust trees were planted around the school. The moment they entered the gates, a pleasant scent of locust flowers greeted them.

Sunlight filtered through the new leaves like scattered gold, and students in school uniforms walked in twos and threes. Xia Yanchun stared at Shen Nian's feet, trying to match his pace. But Shen Nian's strides were much longer than hers, so keeping in step was no easy task for her.

Sure enough, she still didn't like walking side-by-side with Shen Nian.

She preferred walking in front.

It was like that in the past, and it was still like that now.

Xia Yanchun quickly stepped ahead, pulling a two-meter distance from Shen Nian, her little ponytail bouncing with every step.

The fallen leaves on the ground rustled as she stepped on them, crushing the gentleness of early summer beneath her feet.

"..."

Shen Nian scratched his cheek and chose to catch up, playing with the girl's cute hair again.

It was a habit he couldn't break, nor did he want to.

...

The next afternoon, the final comprehensive science exam of the joint examination.

Although everyone knew the joint exam was meant to boost their confidence and would be relatively easier, the difficulty level was ridiculously low.

The other subjects were okay, but the comprehensive science paper was genuinely easy. The proportion of basic questions was much higher. For top-performing students, their scores wouldn't change much, but for average students, their joint exam scores could be thirty points or even higher than their usual tests.

The final major question was also relatively simple. It was a type Shen Nian was familiar with, so he felt absolutely no pressure writing the solution and even felt a bit sleepy.

When the time came, Shen Nian handed in his paper early. Li Shiyan did the same, but Han Wenxin hadn't moved yet. Looking at her serious expression, she was probably still studying the final question.

Li Shiyan waited in the corridor with Shen Nian for Xia Yanchun. She didn't dare say a word, only standing quietly and occasionally scratching her cheek.

So cute.

Shen Nian stroked his chin, marveling a little in his heart that Li Shiyan had actually never been confessed to.

A girl like her with good grades, a cute appearance, and a soft personality should logically be liked by many people. The fact that no one was pursuing her could only mean the boys in their class were too restrained.

Aside from the initial two underground couples in the class, no new couples had emerged. Everyone was just studying so diligently, huh.

Or were they all just hiding it well, like him and Xia Yanchun?

It wasn't entirely impossible.

"Hey, let's go, let's go."

Xia Yanchun came bouncing down the stairs from the floor above.

All the subjects of the joint exam were finished, and the sense of urgency from testing was suddenly lifted. Xia Yanchun wore a cheerful expression.

"Why so late? We've been waiting forever."

"The teacher was just dawdling for a bit."

Xia Yanchun only gave Shen Nian a quick glance before happily linking arms with Li Shiyan. She pulled her downstairs, leaving Shen Nian behind and ignoring him.

Outside of school, she was close to her boyfriend; inside the school, she was close to her bestie. She couldn't just forget her best friend just because she had a boyfriend.