Just Short of Wailing and Shedding Tears

Li Shiyan's mouth hung slightly open, taking quite a while to process Xia Yanchun's words.

So, so he already confessed around the New Year?!

Holy crap, why didn't you tell me earlier!

To think that the childhood friends I've been shipping so hard actually got together, and I was the only one kept in the dark.

She had long suspected that Shen Nian liked Xia Yanchun. Later, when she went to Xia Yanchun's house to hang out, she even told Xia Yanchun her suspicions right to her face. As it turned out, Shen Nian had confessed directly shortly after that!

And to think that just a few days ago, when Shen Nian took a leave of absence, she had even told Xia Yanchun, "I think you like Shen Nian too," and asked if Shen Nian had ever confessed to her.

She actually waited over half a year to admit it. Was it because she was shy?!

Wow, wow, wow, they are just too sweet together!!

Li Shiyan grinned broadly, so happy she was about to jump up. She held Xia Yanchun's hand and swung it back and forth. "Hurry up and tell me how Shen Nian confessed!"

"There's nothing much to say..."

"Tell me, please!"

"Haha, alright, alright. It was during the Spring Festival. Shen Nian was crying bitterly in front of me, begging me to accept his confession, and then blah blah blah..."

Xia Yanchun liked to tell little lies.

No, no, no, this wasn't a little lie!

Xia Yanchun didn't like to lie.

After all, before Shen Nian confessed during the Spring Festival, he had always been making a fuss about wanting her to accept his confession. If she didn't agree, he would keep making a fuss. This was a fact. Every time he made a fuss, she had to kiss him to make him settle down.

The only thing missing from "crying bitterly" was the actual crying and tears.

After listening to Xia Yanchun's entire account of the confession, Li Shiyan snapped into a state of absolute blissful intoxication.

The crowning moment for a shipper was a hundred times more joyful than eating a whole strawberry shortcake.

"Hehe... hehe..."

Just as they walked to the school gate, Xia Yanchun poked Li Shiyan's forehead. "Still giggling foolishly. Has your family come to pick you up yet? If not, you'd better call a cab."

"Hmm, my mom is coming to pick me up in a bit. She should be here soon."

"Then I'll wait here with you for a while."

"Mhm, Chun is the best..."

Shen Nian, who had been following behind them, also stood next to Xia Yanchun and cast a curious glance at Li Shiyan. "What were you guys talking about just now? Why are you so happy?"

"Nothing." Xia Yanchun didn't feel guilty in the slightest.

"Feels like it wasn't anything good."

He knew he should have turned on his mind-reading state to eavesdrop on the two girls' conversation.

Without waiting too long, Li Shiyan received a phone call and waved to Xia Yanchun and Shen Nian. "My mom is here. Bye-bye, Chun. Bye-bye, Shen Nian."

"Bye-bye." Xia Yanchun waved back.

"Bye." Shen Nian also waved, giving Xia Yanchun a gentle nudge with his elbow. "Let's go too."

"Mhm."

There were a lot of people and private cars. The area around the school gate was very crowded, with traffic police directing the vehicles.

Shen Nian struggled to push his bike out, put a helmet on Xia Yanchun, and drove her toward their residential complex.

Graduation season usually brought rain, but today the sky was clear and bright.

A gentle breeze blew, and the clouds rolled peacefully.

Xia Yanchun's little head popped out from behind his shoulder, looking at Shen Nian's face through the rearview mirror, her eyes curving into crescents.

"Shen Nian, I told Shiyan."

"Told her what?"

"About us being together."

"You only told her now? That little girl is so close to you, I thought she already knew."

"She guessed it a long time ago, I just didn't admit it." Xia Yanchun wrapped both arms around Shen Nian's waist, pressing gently against him, and murmured, "I also told her that you were crying bitterly and begging me to accept your confession. Hehe, I'm going to tell Mom and Dad the same thing when we get back."

"You darned silly Chun, ruining my image. You're asking for it."

"Bleh."

"Still going 'bleh', huh? I'm going to discipline you when we get back."

"Let's pack some food to take back while we're at it. I'll be too lazy to come down and buy it later. My treat."

"Even if it's your treat, I'm still going to discipline you. By the way, I want pork rib rice."

"Mhm."

Xia Yanchun leaned half her weight onto Shen Nian, softly clinging to him, secretly sniffing his scent, a little flower blooming in her heart.

The bike wasn't going fast. There were quite a few people in school uniforms on the road. Xia Yanchun turned her face to the side and even saw Han Wenxin laughing and playing with Lin Xiyuan. She wondered if they had seen her...

If they saw her, so be it. She didn't care anymore.

"Chunbao, if you keep pressing against me like this, I won't dare to get off the bike later."

Although he really didn't want to interrupt, Shen Nian had to speak up. Otherwise, he'd be stuck sitting on the bike, too afraid to stand up, and the main culprit, silly Chun, would probably laugh at him from the side.

Xia Yanchun was absolutely capable of doing such a thing.

"You're really hopeless..." Xia Yanchun paused, sitting up straight shyly and casually tugging at her hem.

"What can I do?" Shen Nian looked incredibly innocent. Some things were just beyond his control.

"Focus on driving."

"Guess what I'm writing," Xia Yanchun hummed, simply lifting her index finger to stroke Shen Nian's back, tracing out characters.

"Hmm... Shen."

"Nian."

"Is."

"Handsome."

"Wrong, it's 'foolish'." Xia Yanchun corrected him.

"You clearly wrote it wrong. How could you write 'handsome' as 'foolish'? Have you forgotten everything you learned in school?"

"..."