Having a Secret Base in the Future

Fruit Tea Shop.

Long Aotian sat on a chair, waiting for his order to be packed.

Suddenly, his vision darkened as a cool, soft touch covered his eyes, and a faint, delicate fragrance lingered in the air.

"Guess who I am?"

"Who are you?" Long Aotian asked with a chuckle.

"I'm the big bad villain. Scared?"

"I'm terrified. Please don't hurt me." Though his words feigned fear, his tone betrayed no trace of it.

The onlookers couldn't help but smile at their playful exchange.

Lin Wanning withdrew her hand from his eyes and sat beside him, propping her chin on one hand as she stared straight at him. "Liar. You're not scared at all."

"Don't let my calm fool you. Inside, I'm trembling with fear." Long Aotian wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about Lin Wanning.

She had once said: Let’s just keep things as they are now.

And indeed, it seemed as if the memory of their previous kiss had been erased from her mind.

Perhaps he wasn’t as carefree as Lin Wanning—sometimes, he still found himself thinking about it...

After a brief silence, Lin Wanning gently tugged at his sleeve. "What are you so lost in thought about?"

"Nothing." Just then, his fruit tea order was ready.

He handed one cup to Lin Wanning and ordered another, not having expected to run into her here.

"Bro, why did you order so much? Who else are you bringing it for?"

"Hmm, Hu Yuying and Li Qingxue."

At the mention of those names, Lin Wanning simply nodded and murmured an "Oh."

She had heard Long Aotian talk about his past that night.

In truth, she envied Hu Yuying a little—but only a little. After all, she wasn’t Hu Yuying, and she hadn’t met him first.

In a way, she even felt a hint of gratitude toward Hu Yuying. If not for her, she might never have met Long Aotian here.

Li Qingxue was the second friend he’d made—like a mischievous girl meeting a gruff older brother.

She brought laughter into his life, even if their interactions were mostly bickering. Their bond was something no one could break.

Meanwhile, Lin Wanning had known him for the shortest time. Glancing at Long Aotian, she silently cheered herself on. So what? I’ll carve out my own place in his heart soon enough.

She turned to him. "Bro, I want to meet Yuying and Qingxue too."

......

"Bro, isn’t that your roommate?" Lin Wanning asked softly, noticing Long Aotian awkwardly shielding his forehead with his hand.

He looked up and spotted Wang Lijuan, who seemed too shy to even lift her head, and Xu Shuai, who was hesitating whether to approach.

Xu Shuai was in an awkward spot—not entirely uncomfortable, but still.

He had promised Wang Lijuan to keep their date a secret. Since they were classmates, she was worried about being teased, and even more afraid of the embarrassment if things didn’t work out.

And now, of all places, they had ended up on the same subway as Long Aotian.

At that moment, Xu Shuai suddenly remembered Long Aotian’s advice: "If you’re looking for a girlfriend, it’s better to go for a senior or someone from another class. Avoid dating within your own class—it’ll save you from awkwardness later."

So this is what he meant... Xu Shuai finally understood. Because yeah, this was kind of awkward.

Luckily, the discomfort didn’t last long.

Soon, Long Aotian’s stop arrived. As he passed Xu Shuai on his way out, Xu Shuai blurted, "Yo, Lao Ao, this your stop?"

Beside him, Wang Lijuan stiffened, and Xu Shuai immediately regretted opening his mouth.

Long Aotian hadn’t expected this. He’d been pretending not to see them the entire ride, only for Xu Shuai to drop this bombshell right as he was leaving.

"Who’s Lao Ao? You’ve got the wrong person. I don’t even know you." With that, he grabbed Lin Wanning’s hand and dashed out the moment the doors opened.

As they rushed out, he caught a glimpse of Xu Shuai giving him a thumbs-up.

Lin Wanning, her hand clasped in Long Aotian’s, smiled and threw Xu Shuai a thumbs-up of her own before the doors closed.

Once outside, she and Long Aotian exchanged glances and laughed.

"You weren’t wrong. That was Xu Shuai, my roommate. He asked us to keep it quiet."

"That was pretty awkward."

But then Lin Wanning realized—this subway exit was the same one they’d passed when they were looking at apartments.

"Bro, did you end up renting that place after all?"

"Yep."

"Bro, did you even listen to what I said last time?" Lin Wanning genuinely thought it was a terrible deal.

"Maybe your brother just stumbled upon a hidden gem." Long Aotian brushed it off and led her toward the exit.

Watching his retreating figure and feeling his hand holding hers, Lin Wanning decided to drop it.

Even if she hadn’t known him for long, she trusted that this guy wasn’t the type to make impulsive decisions.

Stepping out of the subway, they soon spotted Hu Yuying and Li Qingxue.

Long Aotian handed them their drinks. "Couldn’t even find some shade to wait in?"

Li Qingxue took her cup. "Yuying was worried you’d panic if you couldn’t find us, you big dummy!"

Long Aotian turned to Hu Yuying.

She gave an innocent shrug. "I was just being obedient."

Her sweet, guileless face, paired with that docile expression, made Long Aotian want to pinch her cheeks until they turned red—just to see her big, watery eyes pleading, "Stop bullying me, okay...?"

When this girl acted cute, she was way too easy to tease.

"Alright, let’s go. I’ll take you to the secret base." With a grand gesture, Long Aotian led the three girls toward the courtyard house.

Pushing open the gate, they found the overgrown weeds and scattered debris completely cleared away.

The place looked infinitely better than its original chaotic state.

Lin Wanning had already seen it, so she wasn’t too surprised.

But Hu Yuying and Li Qingxue gaped at the courtyard, then at Long Aotian’s smug expression.

"Long-ge, did you rent this whole place?"

"Damn right. This is just the cleanup phase. The real renovation hasn’t even started yet."

Li Qingxue stood on her tiptoes and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "You’re not running a fever... So what possessed you to rent a huge place like this and pay for renovations? Do you know how much that’ll cost?"

"Get off me. Don’t jinx it." Long Aotian swatted her hand away and strode inside.

Lin Wanning exchanged a glance with Hu Yuying and Li Qingxue, shrugging helplessly—I tried to talk him out of it, but no luck.

The trio watched Long Aotian's proud and determined figure striding away. With things having come to this, they still pitched in to help him clean up.

[Do the vulture a favor—don’t make me beg you on my knees to generate some sparks.]

[Come on, generate some sparks—have pity on this poor soul.]