Habit is Greater Than Preference

"Done!" Long Aotian stretched lazily.

He raised his hand to rub his shoulders. Seeing this, Hu Yuying hesitated for a moment, then remembered her duty as his assistant.

She stood up and walked behind Long Aotian. "Brother Long, let me give you a massage," she said, her hands kneading his shoulders.

"Does that feel better?"

"Not bad, very comfortable."

Encouraged by Long Aotian's approval, Hu Yuying became even more enthusiastic, putting more effort into the massage.

Back in her hometown, she would often massage her grandfather's shoulders after he finished working in the fields.

She didn’t have any special techniques; just a simple massage was enough to help him relax.

Hu Yuying felt that Brother Long had been kind to her, so being able to help him in return made her happy. She didn’t find it troublesome at all.

"Alright," Long Aotian patted Hu Yuying's hand and stood up, stretching his waist lazily.

"It's getting late. I should head back now," he said, glancing at the weather outside.

"Okay."

Hu Yuying walked him to the door.

"You can go back now. If you run into any trouble you can’t handle, give me a call. Remember, no matter what happens, protecting yourself is the most important thing."

"I understand, Brother Long," Hu Yuying replied, her smile bright and warm.

Hu Yuying was a very genuine person. Her smile was always pure, never tainted by ulterior motives or complicated emotions.

Everything about her radiated sincerity and kindness.

"That's the spirit. You should smile more often. Come on, give me another smile," Long Aotian teased.

Hearing this, Hu Yuying laughed, her clear, bright eyes curving into crescents.

"See you later."

As she watched Long Aotian walk away, Hu Yuying clenched her small hands, mustering her courage. She called out to his back, bathed in sunlight, "Brother Long, can I... can I contact you when I’m free too?"

"Of course, anytime," Long Aotian replied without turning around, simply raising his hand to wave goodbye.

"Brother Long, take care on your way back," Hu Yuying said, waving at his retreating figure even though he couldn’t see her.

She stood there until Long Aotian disappeared at the end of the alley.

Hu Yuying looked up at the sky, her smile as radiant as jade, and took a deep breath.

This weekend had been a happy one for her.

Her worries had been replaced by joy, and now her heart was filled with happiness.

When she got home, she locked the door and hurried to her bedroom.

She pulled out her phone from under her pillow.

Seeing the blinking notification from QQ, she opened the app.

Long Aotian: "Little teacher, today’s meal was delicious. Thanks for the treat."

Reading the message, Hu Yuying couldn’t stop smiling.

She carefully picked up her phone and typed, "If Brother Long likes it, I’ll cook for you again."

Long Aotian: "OK."

After receiving his reply, Hu Yuying lay down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. The shyness unique to a young girl was captivating, making it impossible to look away...

Before heading home, Long Aotian stopped by the market.

After helping an elderly man organize some things, he was shooed away to go home.

Long Aotian didn’t go straight back, though. Instead, he went to an internet café.

He had opened a stock trading account earlier that morning.

Now it was time to get down to business. Although he didn’t have much money,

for Long Aotian at this stage, it was enough.

Having read the novel thoroughly, he knew there were many opportunities for wealth throughout the story. So he wasn’t in a rush.

Besides, he couldn’t afford to be impatient. He wasn’t the protagonist, after all, and didn’t have access to all those convenient plot devices.

He couldn’t expect money to fall into his lap just when he needed it, or a pillow to appear the moment he felt sleepy.

For now, this was fine. It felt like he had a cheat code.

Slowly accumulating wealth was, in its own way, a kind of happiness for Long Aotian.

After finishing his tasks, he logged off and headed home.

After taking a shower, he lay down in bed. Although it had been a few days since he had transmigrated into this world,

when he was alone and quiet, he still felt a sense of unreality.

It all felt like a dream, and he didn’t know when he might wake up.

Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

The next morning.

Li Qingxue turned over in bed and opened her sleepy eyes.

Seeing the sunlight streaming in, she stretched her arms and yawned.

She picked up her phone and, out of habit, thought about asking Ye Liangchen if he was awake. It was Sunday afternoon, and they would soon be heading back to school.

She wanted to ask if he had run into any difficulties with his studies and what time he planned to leave for school.

It was a habit.

A habit formed over many years, not something that could be easily broken.

But when she opened the QQ chat window and saw the conversation history, Li Qingxue came back to reality.

She lowered her gaze, lost in thought.

He had already taken back the special affection he once had for her. Now, they were just ordinary friends.

She took a deep breath, feeling a heaviness in her chest.

Glancing at the time on her phone, Li Qingxue got up, dressed, washed up, and left her room.

"Xue'er, why are you in such a hurry? Have some breakfast before you go," her mother called out.

Li Qingxue, who had already stepped out the door, turned back, grabbed a slice of bread and a carton of yogurt, and left again. "I’m going to exercise," she said.

Watching her daughter run off, Li Qingxue’s mother chuckled. "Who eats breakfast while exercising? This child..."

Li Qingxue walked along the road until she reached the waterfront.

She looked around and sighed softly.

Just as she was about to leave, she noticed a figure lying on a slanted platform not far away.

She walked over.

When she saw the two leaves covering the person’s eyes, she couldn’t help but laugh. "Hey, why did you change your sleeping spot today?"

Hearing her voice, Long Aotian lifted the leaves from his eyes and glanced at her. "Oh, it’s you again."

"I wasn’t sleeping. I was just killing time."

Li Qingxue sat down not far from Long Aotian, her hands resting on her knees as she gazed at the shimmering, flowing river.

"Habits are such a scary thing. This morning when I woke up, I instinctively wanted to contact him."

"Are you using me as a sounding board now?" Long Aotian asked lazily, his hands behind his head.

"But keeping these thoughts to myself is so painful. I don’t know who else to talk to. Since you’re just killing time anyway, can’t you listen to me?"

"Killing time is one thing, but being bored is another. Don’t confuse the two," Long Aotian corrected her.

He then glanced at the girl beside him. "Why did you stop talking?"

Hearing this, Li Qingxue’s mood inexplicably brightened. "Yesterday, after I got home, I thought about it seriously. I think what I feel for him is more familiarity than actual liking."

"We’ve known each other for so many years, and we’re so used to each other. For me, his presence has become a source of dependence and companionship. But is that really what love is?"

......