A glance shows respect, a second look shows reverence.

Everyone went back to their own homes.

"You're back. Did you bring me any food?" Shen Yue glanced toward the entryway from the sofa.

"No."

Shen Nian felt speechless. Online, he always saw other families doing everything they could to serve a high schooler about to take the college entrance exam, the kind where they are waited on hand and foot. But here, not only did no one serve him, he had to serve others.

"You don't even know how to show some respect to your older sister. You really are an insensible little brother."

"I really can't do anything with you." Shen Nian ran over and opened the balcony window.

"What are you doing?"

"Treating you to a gulp of the cold wind."

"Get lost, get lost," Shen Yue said in disgust.

It was better to just kick this kind of brother out to Xia Yanchun's house next door.

It was already eleven-thirty by the time he finished showering. Shen Nian wasn't in a hurry to go to Xia Yanchun's house; after all, at this hour, she probably wasn't done showering yet.

Girls took a bit longer to shower. If they had to wash their hair, half an hour was the minimum, and forty minutes was normal.

After watching some live-streaming-related videos in his room and confirming that his dear sister had retreated to her own room, Shen Nian sneaked out.

Having a key was great; he could go over whenever he wanted.

The lights in Xia Yanchun's house were already off. The living room smelled fragrant, but her bedroom door wasn't closed, letting a sliver of light and cool air seep through the crack.

As soon as he entered, he saw Xia Yanchun lying on her stomach over a plush toy, looking at her phone. From the sound of it, she was watching an online class.

Chunbao, freshly showered, was wearing a loose short-sleeved shirt and shorts. Her exposed skin gave off a soft porcelain-white glow under the light. The pinkish soles of her feet swung up and down, her toes curling slightly, radiating a sense of girlish charm from the inside out.

"Studying?" Shen Nian closed the door properly.

"Mhm. Tomorrow is all about going over test papers, so you're not allowed to disturb me."

"Studying this late?"

"Tomorrow is just going over test papers anyway. I'll just sleep for a bit during the Chinese class."

This was the class monitor who respected the homeroom teacher the most in their school. Could you maintain eye contact with her for ten seconds?

Shen Nian had done his fair share of studying before bed in the past. To be honest, the benefit of calming down to watch online classes was much higher than the efficiency of listening to lectures at school.

Since Chunbao wanted to study seriously, it would be impolite for him to disturb her. For the first time in a while, he also lay down on the bed and started looking at study materials.

Meaning, online classes.

To avoid disturbing Chunbao, he even borrowed her earphones. She lay on her stomach while he lay on his back. The evening self-study session he had wasted at school was being made up for right here.

No wonder Xia Yanchun was a top student. If someone said a person could achieve her grades without talent and hard work, who would believe them?

At first, Shen Nian really wanted to watch the online class seriously for a while.

But Haji Chun's legs swinging back and forth were too eye-catching. He couldn't help but sneak a peek every now and then.

Her shorts only covered half of her thighs. The exposed lower half of her thighs formed a soft curve due to being pressed against her calves.

How could she be so cute...

Now he was really just looking at her legs.

Looking once is respect, looking twice is reverence. Does anyone get it?

This darn Haji Chun was actually messing with his dedication to studying.

Shen Nian composed himself and emphasized in his heart once again that what he should be looking at right now was the middle-aged teacher giving a lecture on his phone screen, not Chunbao's thighs next to him.

An online class usually lasted forty minutes to an hour. Shen Nian had just watched half of it when Xia Yanchun suddenly tugged at the hem of his shirt.

Shen Nian took off his earphones. "Hmm?"

"You're pressing on the blanket."

"Oh."

Shen Nian pulled the blanket out from under him, and Xia Yanchun immediately pulled it over herself. It was only comfortable to have the AC on if you were covered with an air-conditioning blanket.

Xia Yanchun's lower body was completely covered. This was a good thing; Shen Nian could finally watch his online class seriously.

"What are you watching?" Xia Yanchun leaned against Shen Nian.

"Physics."

"Oh, okay."

"Are you done studying? It's not even one o'clock yet."

"Who said I'm done studying? I'm taking a five-minute break right now, understand? I'll watch for another Pomodoro session later, and then I can rest."

Setting a Pomodoro timer was a relatively common study method. One of Xia Yanchun's Pomodoros was twenty-five minutes long. After studying for twenty-five minutes, she would rest for five to ten minutes before starting the next Pomodoro.

This was only for self-studying at home; at school, she used a different study method.

"When you were studying, you wouldn't let me disturb you, but now that I'm studying, you're disturbing me like this?" Shen Nian amusingly pinched Xia Yanchun's soft little face.

"I thought you were just putting on a show."

"You're too funny."

"Hmph, you should take a break too. Study for one more Pomodoro session with me later, and then we'll go to sleep together."

"I'm right at the important part here. Why are you so selfish?"

"Ugh, fine. It seems that as your girlfriend, I've already fallen out of favor." Xia Yanchun swatted Shen Nian's hand away, grumbling.

She made up her mind not to pay any attention to Shen Nian before one o'clock. For the next half hour, she would devote her heart to the teacher giving the online class.

Shen Nian looked at her piglet-like grunts and only found it amusing. A smile unconsciously crept onto the corners of his mouth, but he didn't reply to her. Instead, he put his earphones back on and refocused his mind on the online class.

However, one of his hands landed on Xia Yanchun's leg. He didn't stroke or massage it; he just rested it there quietly, feeling the girl's warmth and softness through her pants.

Xia Yanchun pouted her small mouth, thinking about how long Haji Nian could actually hold out.

She had overestimated Haji Nian. A little brother would always be a stinky little brother.

She didn't say a word either, treating it as indulging him.

After a short break, Xia Yanchun started watching her online class again, but this time, she was lying down just like Shen Nian.

The pillow was uncomfortable, so she rested against Shen Nian with peace of mind. Finding her most comfortable position, she lazily leaned on him, rubbing her face against him when she was in a good mood. Just like that, a Pomodoro session passed by.

Approaching one o'clock, the online class ended. Xia Yanchun plugged her phone in to charge and lay beside him, waiting for Shen Nian to finish watching the last bit of content.

"I feel like this teacher of yours explains things very carefully."

"Indeed. These are top-secret materials. Other people require money to share them."

"They even charge money? You'd be better off looking on Bilibili. There are plenty of uploaders there who specifically talk about exam highlights."

"Those are too basic." Shen Nian also turned off his phone screen and placed it next to Xia Yanchun's phone so he could charge it when he woke up tomorrow morning.

"True, true."

Xia Yanchun nodded. Seeing that Shen Nian was also starting to rest, her little mind immediately became active.

Shen Nian had also just showered not long ago, and he still had that fragrant scent on him. Xia Yanchun found it so incredibly pleasant to smell; she wanted to bite his collarbone.

Shen Nian felt a bit ticklish from her pressing against him. He rubbed his forehead against Xia Yanchun's. "Still not sleeping? If you sleep in class tomorrow, will the other class officers write your name down?"

"I don't know, and I wouldn't be afraid even if they did." Xia Yanchun propped herself up, her legs falling on either side as she straddled Shen Nian's lower abdomen.

She really liked Shen Nian's somewhat astonished, embarrassed, yet somewhat enjoying look. It felt like he could cycle through ten different micro-expressions in a single second.

"Chunbao, you..."

Shen Nian bared his teeth. Before he could finish his sentence, Xia Yanchun pressed her whole body down, patted his face, and played with his lips as if kneading playdough.

She pinched Shen Nian's cheeks and squished his lips together to keep him from speaking. Teasing him from above like this sent her heart racing wildly, and an irrepressible wave of shyness washed over her.

...