Infused with the Ambiguous Flavor

After watching an episode of a music variety show, Xia Yanchun turned off the TV.

She blinked her eyes at Shen Nian.

"Ahem, time to sleep," Shen Nian said in a low voice.

"Shh..." Xia Yanchun was really afraid that Shen Yue might suddenly double back. Only after making sure the lights in Shen Yue's room were out did she tiptoe into Shen Nian's room.

It couldn't be helped; it had indeed been a long time since she had been in Shen Nian's room. Even though they hung out together every day, it was always Shen Nian coming over to her house.

Today she would just have to reluctantly indulge Shen Nian this once!

The air conditioner was already on, and a cool breeze met her as soon as she opened the door.

Xia Yanchun crawled onto the bed on all fours, fluffed up the pillow, and lay down. She gave the pillow a sniff, but surprisingly, there was no scent at all.

Just how many days had it been since Shen Nian slept in his own house?

A very, very long time. Xia Yanchun couldn't even count.

Oh well, she'd just have to let Shen Nian's room be tainted with the ambiguous scent of the two of them.

Shen Nian went to the bathroom before coming in. The door closed, and the lights went out with it. His eyes hadn't completely adjusted to the darkness yet, but he still familiarly felt his way onto the bed.

Haha, the room was a bit dark, and he accidentally rested his hand on Chunbao's leg. How embarrassing.

Xia Yanchun pulled her legs back a bit and hugged the small quilt, making room for him. She usually preferred to sleep on the outside, but today, she wanted to sleep against the wall.

"Come a little closer," Xia Yanchun whispered softly, her index finger hooking onto the clothes of the newly settled Shen Nian.

"Okay."

Shen Nian lay down in the middle, leaving Xia Yanchun only about two body widths of space; a single roll and she would hit the wall.

In that tiny space, Xia Yanchun comfortably reached out and hugged Shen Nian.

Now that she was in the room, her sulkiness had dissipated. Pressing against Shen Nian's arm, she felt that he smelled nice and had the urge to just take a bite out of him.

"Hehe, Chunbao, I missed you to death."

"How much?"

"Didn't I say it? Three days apart feels like three autumns. You even scolded me for it."

"If I scold you, just take it." Xia Yanchun tapped Shen Nian's lips.

Shen Nian pursed his lips, caught her mischievous finger, and tucked it under the covers. He shifted his body, half-pinning Xia Yanchun down, his heartbeat gradually speeding up.

Three days of longing turned into tangible action. After exchanging slow, intermittent affection with Xia Yanchun for a good while, Shen Nian comfortably buried his face in her collarbone, breathing softly.

Xia Yanchun pursed her lips. She always forgot to breathe, only remembering it when she was about to run out of air.

Holding her breath was a subconscious reaction. In the Korean dramas and workplace shows she watched, the female leads often had their faces flushed pink from the male lead's kisses, frantically pushing them away. She had never actually seen anyone breathing while kissing.

It was as if taking a breath would wash away the romantic atmosphere entirely.

But she had just tried it, and the truth was, the romance remained exactly the same.

It seemed that breathing while kissing was truly a technical skill.

With her neck tickled by Shen Nian's nuzzling, Xia Yanchun grabbed a handful of his hair. "Time to sleep!"

"Okay." Shen Nian immediately behaved. He planted one last kiss on Xia Yanchun's neck, then held the girl, intending to sleep peacefully just like that.

Well, Shen Nian had indeed overestimated himself a bit.

So he lowered his requirements for himself: his hands didn't need to be too well-behaved, but everything else had to be.

Xia Yanchun didn't say a word and just focused on sleeping.

She felt that in the future, she would definitely master the ability to ignore Shen Nian's existence. Right now, she was already getting the hang of it.

...

Heavy rain and light rain hadn't stopped for several days. The air was extremely humid, and even in the middle of summer, clothes wouldn't necessarily dry after hanging for two days.

People with rheumatism were in for a treat.

After a few gloomy days, the weather finally cleared up in early June.

June 3rd.

The numbers on the blackboard had gone from three digits to two, and now to a single digit. The hundred-day pledge rally felt like it was just yesterday.

Three days left until the college entrance examination.

Today was also the day the school officially let out. After this afternoon, all students had to leave the campus. No. 2 High School would become an examination center for the Gaokao, hosting the final exam of their high school years in three days.

The morning was supposed to be for self-study, but Su Kexi had taken up two class periods to repeat the precautions needed for the exam and handed out the admission tickets.

Looking at his admission ticket, Shen Nian lazily stretched his legs.

Having this thing meant that graduation was truly near.

Su Kexi was still up front talking about the precautions. As the student who respected the homeroom teacher the most, Shen Nian shifted his gaze to Xia Yanchun next to him and lifted his chin.

"Let me see your admission ticket."

"Here." Xia Yanchun handed it to him without hesitation.

Shen Nian took a close look and immediately lost interest.

Luck +5 hadn't worked its magic; he wasn't in the same exam center as Xia Yanchun.

Shen Nian was assigned to the neighboring No. 1 High School, while Xia Yanchun remained at No. 2 High School.

"Which test center are you at?"

"I'm at No. 1 High."

"Oh, Shi Yan and I are both at No. 2 High," Xia Yanchun whispered, covering her mouth.

Although her voice was very soft, Shen Nian still heard her.

Shen Nian handed the admission ticket back to her and waved his hand.

It didn't really matter where the test center was, but it was a bit of a pity not to be at the same one as Xia Yanchun.

But it was fine; No. 1 and No. 2 High Schools weren't far apart.

"Everyone must pay attention to safety when school lets out this afternoon. And on the 6th, everyone absolutely, positively must come to school. The school will organize everyone to go to the test centers to check your seats!"

Su Kexi was still talking, as if she had an endless list of precautions.

Finishing the exam meant graduation, and she wouldn't have the chance to manage the students' discipline like this anymore. Thinking about it made her a little sad.

This was something every teacher had to experience.

The older teachers told her to just cry a bit and not take it to heart, but she really couldn't do that; she always felt like crying.

The students in the next class even set off party poppers and ribbons for their teachers, making several female teachers and students cry.

Damn it, why didn't anyone in her class set off party poppers for her? This was outrageous.

While feeling reluctant to part, Su Kexi decided to come back in the afternoon to make her presence felt again.

She hoped the students would prepare party poppers in advance for the afternoon and not be unappreciative.

After talking a bunch, Su Kexi looked at Xia Yanchun.

"Class monitor, go to my office and fetch the graduation photos from my desk."

"Okay." Xia Yanchun nodded and trotted out briskly.

In no time, she returned carrying a stack of graduation photos and placed them on the podium. They were divided into four piles, one for each group, and passed from the front to the back into every student's hands.

The graduation photos were laminated, with the names of every student and teacher printed on the back.

Glancing at it, Shen Nian once again marveled at the girls in the class. They were all quite pretty, but few were normal. There were more of them with high scores than the boys. If Shen Nian hadn't suddenly risen to the top, four of the top five would have been girls.

Good thing I'm awesome.