Liking is mutual

After class.

Hu Yuying found Li Qingxue.

The moment she saw Hu Yuying, Li Qingxue was still concerned.

But as soon as she approached, Hu Yuying grabbed her and gave her a playful, merciless tickling.

Hu Yuying had become quite skilled at tickling, and Li Qingxue couldn’t withstand it at all.

Worried about Hu Yuying’s stomach, Li Qingxue didn’t dare resist and could only plead, "Good sister, good sister," over and over.

The sight of two school belle-like girls playfully roughhousing naturally drew the attention of many male classmates.

Especially when they saw Hu Yuying’s small hands teasing Li Qingxue’s waist—their eyes were practically glued to the scene.

"Talking too much, huh? Will you do it again? Will you?" Hu Yuying giggled uncontrollably while tickling Li Qingxue.

"No, no, I won’t! Be careful, please..."

Seeing how worried Li Qingxue was about her, Hu Yuying decided to let her off.

With some time to spare, Hu Yuying took Li Qingxue’s hand and led her outside.

She casually explained the situation: "It was just a delayed period. It’s here now."

Hearing this, Li Qingxue let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh my, you have no idea how worried I was..."

Then, as if remembering something, she asked, "But what caused the delay? It was a whole week late."

Hu Yuying, naturally too embarrassed to explain, simply said she’d been to the hospital and the medical staff confirmed everything was fine.

"There’s one more thing I need to tell you," Hu Yuying murmured shyly, lowering her eyes. "Starting today, I won’t be staying in the dorm anymore."

Li Qingxue nodded at first, then suddenly froze. "Huh? No more dorm?"

"Then where will you...?"

Hu Yuying gave a small nod. "Mm, I’ll be staying with Brother Long..." She trailed off, her face burning with embarrassment.

After all, this meant they were officially living together.

"What about me?" Li Qingxue gently shook Hu Yuying’s hand, her eyes glistening as she blinked in a pleading manner. The adorable pout made Hu Yuying’s heart flutter.

From the day they arrived in the capital, she and Li Qingxue had hardly been apart.

Whenever they didn’t have classes, the two would always be together.

Over time, their friendship had reached a point where separation felt unthinkable.

Now, suddenly parting ways—truth be told, Hu Yuying felt just as reluctant.

Even if it was only a distance of less than seven kilometers.

"We’ll still be together at school, and on breaks, you can come over to Brother Long’s place to hang out," Hu Yuying reassured her softly.

"Fine then."

Seeing the brief shadow of loneliness on Li Qingxue’s face, Hu Yuying understood her feelings mirrored her own.

After a moment’s thought, she added, "How about this—once Brother Long’s place is fully decorated, we’ll save a room for you? That way, we won’t really be apart."

"Really?"

"Mm, of course. Brother Long listens to me a little now."

Li Qingxue smirked, her beautiful eyes narrowing. "Just a little? Doesn’t whatever you say basically become his royal decree?"

"It’s not that exaggerated!" Hu Yuying waved her hands dismissively.

"Oh, it’s exactly that exaggerated." Li Qingxue pinched Hu Yuying’s cheek. "Look at how red your face is! If I were a guy, I’d definitely fall for someone like you too."

"And if a guy looked like you, you’d probably become a heartbreaker for all the girls," Hu Yuying teased, lightly tapping Li Qingxue’s nose.

Still bantering, the two made their way outside.

"Should I walk you to the subway?" Li Qingxue asked.

"No need. Brother Long is coming to pick me up soon. Let’s grab something to drink while we wait."

"I’m definitely going to give that Long Aotian a piece of my mind later. Even if he couldn’t hold back, how could he not even use protection...?"

Li Qingxue knew how much this incident had affected Hu Yuying.

Hearing this, Hu Yuying desperately wanted to explain—Brother Long had calculated her safe period beforehand.

And after experiencing it once, resisting became nearly impossible.

Like last night—she had been the one who couldn’t hold back first.

At this age, with hormones raging, two people in love only needed a single glance for desire to ignite.

The fact that Brother Long had held back for so long without touching her...

If anyone was to blame, it was her. If she hadn’t tried to seduce him like in those videos, he wouldn’t have lost control and taken her completely.

Besides, she had gone willingly. It was only after meeting Brother Long that she felt like her true self.

It was a strange, wonderful feeling—as if the first eighteen years of her life had been a prewritten script, and Brother Long had led her off that predetermined path.

In any case, she cherished this feeling. She had given herself willingly, and now she embraced it wholeheartedly.

Brother Long had taught her courage and freedom.

Through him, she had learned the complexity and beauty of love.

He cared for her, respected her, understood her, accepted her, and had given so much without asking for anything in return.

The only time he’d ever asked for anything was when he’d jokingly encouraged her to "do well in the future, earn lots of money, and buy him a nice set of clothes."

A man like that—so good, so gentle...

But she, who loved Brother Long, had always been on the receiving end of his care.

That wasn’t right.

Love should be mutual. It couldn’t just be one person giving endlessly.

Brother Long always praised her for being innocent, calling her silly—as if he saw all the beauty in the world reflected in her.

But that wasn’t true. Yuying wasn’t naive or foolish.

The purest, most beautiful thing about her was herself.

To others, it might seem like she had recklessly given herself to Brother Long, but in reality, hadn’t she used her body to bind him to her...?

This recent scare had only deepened her appreciation for Brother Long’s sense of responsibility, his reliability, and his care.

Having a man like him was her greatest happiness—wasn’t it?

So she said, "Qingxue, can you stop criticizing Brother Long so much?"

Li Qingxue huffed. "You’re always taking his side."

"In matters like this, you can’t just indulge him all the time. Even if he’s a little bit good, spoiling him will only encourage bad habits..."

That said, Li Qingxue also knew that Long Aotian must have been going through a whirlwind of emotions these past few days.

And even if this hadn’t been a false alarm, he would never have let Hu Yuying suffer.

Because that was just the kind of person he was—the more he cared about someone, the more he wanted the best for them...