Things That Must Be Made Clear

The idle afternoon felt a bit busy.

After feeling completely refreshed in both body and mind, Shen Nian held Xia Yanchun and took a sweet afternoon nap.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Shen Nian took an early shower and went down to the first floor, listening to the neighbors chatting with his parents.

Before long, Xia Yanchun also came downstairs. She was wearing the standard loungewear of a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and she hadn't even bothered to tie up her hair. However, because she was going to drive, she swapped her favorite slippers for a pair of ankle socks and cloth shoes.

The combination of loungewear and sporty footwear looked a bit odd, but Xia Yanchun didn't care. No one could see her inside the car anyway, and as for the aunts and uncles chatting out front, they were all acquaintances who wouldn't say anything even if she dressed poorly.

"Dad, are you free right now?"

"Ah, yes, I am." Xia Herui, who had been sitting in front of the door scrolling through his phone, pushed himself up and took large strides to open the car door.

When he came home in the afternoon, his daughter suddenly said she wanted to borrow his car to practice driving. Xia Herui was actually quite reluctant.

But a novice always has to hit the road eventually. If she didn't practice more now, she wouldn't have the courage to drive later even with a driver's license.

"Shen Nian, come practice driving!" Xia Yanchun called out to Shen Nian.

Shen Nian scurried over and slipped into the driver's seat right before Xia Yanchun could get in.

"Me first, you sit in the back."

"This is my dad's car!" Xia Yanchun puffed up her cheeks in anger.

"What does it matter if it's your dad's or my dad's? Uncle Xia likes me so much, he definitely wants me to try first."

If he let Xia Yanchun go first, it meant he didn't like Shen Nian. If he let Shen Nian go first, his daughter would throw a fit. Xia Herui was almost on the verge of tears from the panic. This dead end could probably only be solved by having the young couple play rock-paper-scissors.

Putting his future father-in-law in a dilemma like this, how ridiculous.

Xia Herui had already made a mental note of this. If he didn't find a suitable opportunity to set Shen Nian up in the future, he would take his daughter's surname.

Fortunately, Xia Yanchun just sulked, slapped Shen Nian loudly on the arm, and sat in the back seat. If she had actually forced Xia Herui to pick who got to drive first, it would have given him a massive headache.

The car started slowly, and Xia Herui, sitting in the passenger seat, tightly gripped the overhead handle.

Someone who doesn't need to grab the handle when a novice is driving is this (thumbs up), but Xia Herui was this (thumbs down).

However, Xia Yanchun in the back seat became inexplicably excited. She sat in the middle, leaning forward and looking around. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was the one driving.

Strictly speaking, Shen Nian wasn't very skilled at driving either, but he was quite confident in his own driving abilities.

The roads in town were neither wide nor narrow. A four-lane road had been built a few years ago, and since it was nighttime with very few passing cars, Shen Nian drove with peace of mind.

There were occasionally men and women taking walks along the road, bringing their children along, talking and laughing.

"When driving, you need to look straight ahead, pay attention to the sides, and don't get too close to pedestrians..." Xia Herui voiced his guidance from the side.

"Got it, got it."

Shen Nian drove leisurely, purposely taking a few turns to bring the car to the riverside.

"Hehe, you drive it back."

"Hmph, your driving made my stomach upset. I want to throw up."

"Buddy, I've only been driving for a few minutes. If your stomach is upset, in your case I suggest you go take a big dump."

"Get lost, go back and sit in the back."

"I tell you the truth and you're still not happy about it."

Xia Yanchun's lips were pouted high. It was only when she sat in the driver's seat that her expression lightened up.

Talking too much with Shen Nian would shorten her lifespan. Xia Yanchun felt that she could have lived to be one hundred and twenty, but now she would only live to be a hundred.

Xia Yanchun didn't have an easy time driving on the return trip.

Originally, she could have just turned a corner and driven straight home, but Xia Yanchun insisted on replicating Shen Nian's route from earlier. She took a few turns and arrived at the market area. The fruit stands on both sides took up part of the road, making it narrow, and she became too scared to drive. She dawdled for quite a while before finally driving the car out of the market.

"A crowded vegetable market is a nightmare for all novice drivers. Xia Yanchun's palms were sweating, but fortunately, she made it through without any real danger..."

"Get lost! Can you stop adding random voiceovers!"

"I'm just doing some commentary. You won't even let me say a few words." Shen Nian bared his teeth in a grin.

Xia Herui in the passenger seat was sweating profusely.

He had been genuinely nervous just now, terrified that his daughter would crash into someone's fruit stand, which would cost money and cause trouble.

Xia Yanchun let out a soft hmph. The rest of the way was a straight road, and she easily drove the car back to the front of her house.

It took her three tries to back the car into the parking spot properly.

Xia Yanchun wiped the imaginary sweat from her forehead. Driving was quite exhausting.

"Even though the maneuvering was ugly, I still worked hard."

"Can you stop chattering and dubbing next to me? It's so annoying. I'll hit you, believe it or not."

Shen Nian pinched his chin and said in confusion, "Wait, isn't that what you were really thinking?"

"...Definitely not." Xia Yanchun crossed her arms.

"Looks like I was right."

"No you weren't. I'm not talking to you anymore, go play somewhere else." Xia Yanchun hated Shen Nian the most right now, and she went pitter-patter as she ran back into her house.

Shen Nian stayed on the first floor to chat for a bit, then openly walked right into Xia Yanchun's house. Anyone could tell without looking that he was going to hang out with her.

On the first floor, Xia Herui suddenly felt a sense of melancholy.

If they confirmed their relationship during the Spring Festival, it had been about seven months by now. Logically speaking, a couple's honeymoon phase should be coming to an end. Were his Little Chun and Shen Nian still in their honeymoon phase?

He felt like they were both deeply in love and annoyed with each other at the same time. It seemed like it had always been this way, with endless things to bicker about every single day.

The closer and more in love the two became, the more worried the old father grew. The child was grown up now, and there were some things her mother needed to explicitly explain to Little Chun.

"..."

Shen Nian was like a little demon, always finding trouble with his Little Chun for no reason at all. He was truly just like Shen Shi.

Now that Shen Shi had been more or less smoothed out by life's hardships, all of his sharp edges had transferred onto Shen Nian.

The more Xia Herui thought about it, the more distressed he became, feeling deeply worried for his Little Chun.

...

August 26th, the reporting day for new students at Nanjiang University.

Since she had already packed her luggage two days ago, Xia Yanchun slept in a little later and was eventually woken up by the alarm she had set.

When she leisurely opened her eyes, the side of the pillow was already cool.

Xia Yanchun unconsciously hugged the pillow next to her, covered her small face, and muffled herself against it for a while. She crumpled the blanket into a ball before finally bringing herself to climb out of bed.

Today was the day to head into the city...

Xia Yanchun numbly brushed her teeth and washed her face. She spent some time double-checking her luggage, and after confirming everything was in order, she prepared to drag it downstairs.

Today, Wen Zhining was still in charge of picking her up and dropping her off. Although it was a bit troublesome, it couldn't be helped...

Footsteps sounded from the stairs as Wen Zhining quietly came up to the third floor. "Ah, Little Chun is up?"

"Mhm, I set an alarm. When are we leaving?"

"What's the rush? Mom needs to talk to you about something important."

Wen Zhining pulled Xia Yanchun to sit on the edge of the bed. From her skirt pocket, she pulled out a small item wrapped in a thick red plastic bag, grabbed Xia Yanchun's hand, and stuffed it inside.

"What is this?"

"A condom."

Xia Yanchun was startled and panicked. Her eyes widened, and she instinctively pulled her hand back. The item in her hand dropped onto the bed with a smack.

"Mom!"

"Why are you so flustered? Take it."

"Mom, Shen Nian and I... we haven't reached that stage yet..." Xia Yanchun's small face suddenly flushed red. She pursed her pink lips again and again, forcing down the shyness in her heart as she shook her head. "We don't need this right now..."

"You will need it in the future," Wen Zhining said with a serious expression. "Don't be shy. What is there to be shy about? Just take it."

"Oh..." Xia Yanchun replied in a soft, meek voice, not really daring to speak up.

"You and Shen Nian are so close, so you will definitely need this sort of thing. You have to keep it handy, otherwise you'll be forced to take pills. Unless it's a short-acting contraceptive, taking those pills will harm your body. Your Auntie Chen and I have already discussed this, and she is going to give Shen Nian a box as well. If it weren't for the fact that you two are so inseparable, we wouldn't even bother bringing this up with you..."

"I know..." Xia Yanchun nodded stiffly, scolding her stupid mom countless times in her head.

Her mom worked at a hospital, so it was completely normal for her to bring up sex education at the drop of a hat. But she was still just a young girl. Being suddenly handed something like this, how could it be so easy to just not be shy? Her stupid mom actually expected her not to be embarrassed...

Hmph, later in the car, she was definitely going to sit in the back seat with Shen Nian.

Taking a break today, only a single chapter update...