Chapter 11

That expression seemed to mock Lin Xinyu's ignorance. Not only that, but Bai Shihan felt a secret surge of delight—so he wasn't all-knowing after all... "Alright, getting mouthy, aren't we? Have a reward." Lin Xinyu picked up an oyster from the tableware. This thing was a beauty parlor for women and a gas station for men. But in Bai Shihan's eyes, she only thought he was getting back at her. Aside from this small episode, Bai Shihan looked at Lin Xinyu as if she hadn't eaten her fill, licking her lips. "Is, is that delicious?" Lin Xinyu had ordered two portions, especially since he ordered according to his own appetite. "You didn't eat enough?" "Just a little bit..." Bai Shihan's face flushed with shame, not daring to look him in the eye. "Eat up, this is the last one. Careful your stomach hurts tomorrow." Bai Shihan didn't care about all that; she took the remaining untouched barbecue from Lin Xinyu's side. The girl was still a bit shy, deliberately leaving a few large skewers untouched. About ten minutes or so later, Bai Shihan finished everything. In the end, she couldn't eat another bite, yet didn't want to waste food, stuffing her stomach until it literally couldn't hold anymore. Then she looked at Lin Xinyu, asking for backup. Lin Xinyu couldn't say no to her and had no choice but to help her finish it off. "Th, then, where do we pay?" Bai Shihan rubbed her protruding belly, trying to make it shrink back in. Lin Xinyu sat frozen in his seat for a moment, then looked at her happily: "What? You dare to go pay?" As long as she dared to do it, it meant she had taken another step forward. "Mm, I'll try." Bai Shihan nodded, then reached her hand under her skirt, fishing money out from her pocket. At first Lin Xinyu froze, and just as he wanted to stop her, he remembered that the little girl wouldn't be that bold, so he chose to stay put. Sure enough, beneath her white skirt, a pair of light blue jeans was visible—not what he had imagined at all. "Do you want me to come with you?" Bai Shihan hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. Every time before, she had succeeded in changing with Lin Xinyu's help; she definitely couldn't hold him back this time. Except Lin Xinyu had already paid the bill in advance and specifically asked the waitress to cooperate, just to make the little girl happy. Good luck was the thing that could make people the happiest. Just like already having a hundred yuan in your hand, but finding twenty on the street—it would make you way more excited than just having what you started with. Even more direct were red packets on the phone; even if the Lucky King only got two yuan, it could make someone happy all day long. Bai Shihan moved her feet tremblingly. This was her first time paying the bill eating out, especially under the circumstance of leaving Lin Xinyu's company. Reaching the counter, Bai Shihan cautiously looked at the waitress checking out inside. Fortunately, it was a girl, so she wasn't too nervous. "Hello, what can I get you?" "Check, please." Bai Shihan didn't stutter, and that alone was enough to generate a sense of joy in her. "Well, you're the first couple to come in today, so the set meal you chose is on the house." The little girl's mouth fell open in disbelief. Were there really this many perks to eating out? "Is, is it really free?" Bai Shihan couldn't believe it and asked again. Her adorable, silly appearance made the waitress nod again. "What's wrong?" Lin Xinyu walked over, and immediately after, Bai Shihan repeated it to him with a smile. "Whoa, how is your luck so good?" Looking at the envious gaze cast by Lin Xinyu, Bai Shihan didn't reply, feeling very happy to be good friends with him. Even though she always asked to be his wife, he had never done anything out of line to her. Walking out of the barbecue restaurant. Enveloped by the moonlight, the little tomato on Bai Shihan's face wasn't very obvious. She reached out and grabbed that familiar hem of his shirt. Having long failed to find her direction, she finally seemed to know what she ought to do. Arriving at the bottom of the building where Bai Shihan lived, despite a myriad of reluctance to part, the two of them still chose to separate. "See you tomorrow." Lin Xinyu looked at Bai Shihan, waiting for her to leave first. Yet the other person had the exact same thought in mind; the two of them stood in place, staring blankly at each other. "If you can't bear to part, I'll just go up and sleep." "No, no, no." The little girl waved her hands, and this time without waiting, she ran upstairs at top speed. Seeing this, Lin Xinyu finally left. Nighttime, a brisk breeze blowing. At the second-floor corner window, the little girl stood on her tiptoes with all her might, seeing Lin Xinyu off until he disappeared around the corner before pulling her head back in. ... The next morning. To prevent the previous incident from happening again, Lin Xinyu deliberately set an alarm. When the ringtone went off, he lazily pressed it. He got up, washed up, and after handling everything, opened his phone and logged into QQ. Thinking he would be the first to message her, he never expected that Bai Shihan's avatar was already shaking violently.After returning home last night, Lin Xinyu had already changed her nickname in his contacts to "Precious," tapped the screen, and finally opened the chat.

"Precious": I am dying. "Precious": /crying/crying "Yu": Is your stomach hurting?

Lin Xinyu could pretty much guess that Bai Shihan, who had never eaten those things before, definitely couldn't handle her first time.

It wasn't just a stomachache; even walking might be affected. To put it bluntly, it was diarrhea, and on top of that, a tearing pain would flare up down there from time to time.

"Precious": Mhm. "Yu": Wait for me, I'm coming over.

He changed his clothes, hurried out, and didn't forget to buy some digestive tablets along the way. Following her usual habits, she must have gone straight to bed after washing up the moment she got home last night.

...

In bed, Bai Shihan clutched her stomach, curled up inside the quilt, and didn't forget to hold Xiao Lv tightly to ease the pain.

Lin Xinyu moved fast, arriving at Bai Shihan's place with breakfast in less than ten minutes.

When he saw Bai Shihan, her little face was slightly pale as she clutched Xiao Lv and asked, "You, you tell me, am I... you know..."

Bai Shihan blushed, leaving Lin Xinyu a bit at a loss. "Which one?"

"Well, just yesterday." Thinking about their physical contact after waking up, Bai Shihan was deeply suspicious. "Am, am I pregnant?"

"???"

"Yeah, I am."

Hearing this, Bai Shihan opened her eyes wide, her face full of disbelief. Without feeling anything at all, she was about to become a mother...

"Here is white porridge and digestive tablets. What you're pregnant with is barbecue and instant noodles." Lin Xinyu placed the porridge on the bedside table and stared at her.

Bai Shihan didn't understand what he meant.

"Then I'll feed you."

Before Bai Shihan could refuse, Lin Xinyu had already scooped up a spoonful of white porridge and brought it to her mouth.

Not wanting to be snapped at, Bai Shihan had no choice but to open her mouth.

As the spoon touched her lips, Bai Shihan felt as though the texture had grown right onto the spoon.

Otherwise, why did it feel as though her lips were being gently stroked by his fingers the moment she touched the spoon...

"I told you to eat less, but you wouldn't listen. Do you believe it now?"

Bai Shihan looked a bit aggrieved. "I know now."

Actually, it wasn't Bai Shihan's fault. She had only ever watched other people eat those things and had never tried them before, so it was completely normal that she couldn't resist the first time.

"Why are you just staring? Don't tell me you want me to feed you mouth-to-mouth?" Lin Xinyu had been holding the spoon up for ages, but this girl just spaced out after taking two bites.

"I, I'll eat."

Bai Shihan opened her mouth while complaining inwardly—he's still just as bossy.

Fed by Lin Xinyu, the bowl of white porridge was soon emptied.

"Feeling better?"

"Mhm..."

Not only did her stomach stop hurting, but there was also a warm feeling in her heart that she had never experienced before.

So, this is what a good friend feels like?

Watching Lin Xinyu clean up, Bai Shihan felt what it was like to be cared for for the very first time.

"Why... why are you so good to me..."

Clutching Xiao Lv tightly and pulling her gaze back, too cowardly to look at him, she finally asked the doubt that had lingered in her heart for a long time.

Lin Xinyu stopped what he was doing. "Do you really want to know?"

"Mhm."

"Then you mustn't laugh at me." After tossing all the useless trash into the bin, Lin Xinyu sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I, I won't."

"Actually, it's mainly because I had a dream."

Bai Shihan was dumbfounded, not quite understanding. "What kind of dream..."

"In the dream, a girl told me that she hadn't been happy for a very long time." Lin Xinyu looked at Bai Shihan, and seeing her staring blankly at him, he went on, "She said she didn't dare talk to others, didn't dare go out, didn't dare express what was in her heart, and just went along with everyone else's moods. She was living so exhaustedly."

Bai Shihan hugged Xiao Lv even tighter, her eyes widening in disbelief.

Lin Xinyu reached out and gently stroked her head. "Everything will be fine from now on. From now on, I'll take you outside, I'll accompany you when you talk, I'll teach you to express your own emotions, and I'll make you happy."

Xiao Lv slowly slipped from her arms onto the quilt. Bai Shihan felt her vision begin to blur, but out of habit, she forcefully held the tears back, not wanting to act helpless.

"I'm sent by the heavens to keep you company."

Bai Shihan kept enduring it, biting her lower lip hard. After steadying her emotions, her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. "You, don't lie to me. I, I'm very easy to fool..."

"I'm not lying to you. Look, haven't all these past few days been filled with things you've never seen before? Besides, your courage has grown too—you wouldn't dare talk back to me in the past.""S-So, we are good friends, right?" Bai Shihan met Lin Xinyu's doting gaze and shyly lowered her little head. "That's right, the best in the world." "Yeah! T-The best." "Then will you be my wife?" "..." Sweet food makes people happy purely because it stimulates the brain to release dopamine and endorphins, two chemicals that regulate mood and bring a sense of joy. Even so, Bai Shihan felt that the milk candy she was eating today was sweeter than any she had tasted before. Morning. Lin Xinyu was organizing his manuscript at the desk while Bai Shihan sat quietly beside him, occasionally toying with the miniature maze ball on the pencil sharpener. The manuscript was quick to tackle. Using popular tropes combined with the plots he remembered, he easily mapped out the outline and hammered out the early chapters in no time. All he had to do later was follow the established structure and submit it. Bai Shihan had no idea what Lin Xinyu was trying to do; she only knew he wanted to save up enough bride price. At first, the little girl had been quite interested in the story Lin Xinyu was writing, but that bad guy always liked to leave her hanging with sudden cliffhangers, so she simply stopped reading. It wasn't until two o'clock in the afternoon, when Bai Shihan's stomach finally let out a rumble, that Lin Xinyu stopped what he was doing and looked over at her. "You didn't even say you were hungry. Are you silly?" Scolded again... Bai Shihan aggrievedly pouted, lowering her head to resume playing with the small iron ball. "I sentence you to cook lunch for me." "Okay." That instantly cheered Bai Shihan up. She sprang out of bed and happily scampered off to the kitchen. Before Lin Xinyu entered her life, the only time the little girl found joy was in cooking. Taking all kinds of ingredients and transforming them from unfamiliar to second nature, she always felt a tremendous sense of satisfaction upon finishing a dish. Lin Xinyu sat down at the dining table, choosing not to go in and disturb her, and simply watched quietly. In the kitchen, Bai Shihan had her apron tied securely, her spatula flipping back and forth in the pan. At that moment, it felt as though she truly had become his wife. About half an hour later, the dishes were ready. Minced pork with eggplant, shredded pork in garlic sauce, and boiled Chinese cabbage. A smile graced Bai Shihan's face, and the pride shining on it hadn't faded for a single second since she stepped out of the kitchen. "T-Taste this?" Lin Xinyu didn't hesitate. Under her expectant gaze, he picked up a piece of eggplant from the plate and tasted it. Even though Bai Shihan didn't ask, the anxious anticipation in her eyes made it clear how desperately she wanted to know his verdict. "This is delicious!" This time it was Lin Xinyu's turn to widen his eyes. While there was a hint of exaggeration in his tone, his praise was entirely genuine. "R-Really?" Bai Shihan was a little thrilled. This was the first time she had ever received feedback, let alone from Lin Xinyu. "Is there any need for me to lie to you? Look, I've already eaten half my bowl of rice." Lin Xinyu pointed to the rice in his bowl to prove he wasn't making things up. Bai Shihan smiled happily, experiencing a profound, soul-deep joy she had never known before—being validated, and validated by her good friend at that! "T-Then eat a little more." Not knowing what else to say, Bai Shihan simply voiced her thoughts. Lunch ended in that delightful atmosphere. Afterwards, washing the dishes was a joint effort between the two of them. At the sink, Lin Xinyu deliberately brushed against Bai Shihan's small hand multiple times, feigning innocence each time and leaving her with no idea how to respond. She could only blush furiously while silently condemning the great scoundrel for his outrageous behavior. With everything cleaned up, the two of them returned to the bedroom. Bai Shihan had gone from initial shyness to growing accustomed to it; as long as Lin Xinyu didn't inspect her wardrobe, she was fine with anything else. "Classes start tomorrow." Sitting on the bed, Bai Shihan had originally intended to remind him to study hard, but to her surprise, the words came out differently the moment she spoke. "Yeah, it would be great if I could sleep here at night too." Lin Xinyu deliberately let out a sigh when he finished speaking. Bai Shihan hurriedly waved her hands. "No, you can't. Boys and girls aren't allowed to stay together at night." "Why?" "T-There will be a little baby..." Remembering the pregnancy incident from that morning, Bai Shihan blushed like a little tomato. "Who told you that? As long as we just sleep honestly and don't do *that* kind of thing, there won't be any little baby." Lin Xinyu was still a bit surprised to find out she even knew about such things. Yet Bai Shihan looked utterly curious. "T-That kind of thing? What kind of thing is it..." *** 027. Am I a Bad Kid? Lin Xinyu was an absolute rogue! The moment she learned what kind of thing it was, Bai Shihan dove straight under the covers, her whole body burning with heat, terrified that he might decide to give her an on-site demonstration. "Am I really that terrifying?" "Y-Yes, you are..." A faint reply drifted out from beneath the blanket, making Lin Xinyu want to laugh. "Weren't you the one who asked?" "I-I don't want any, I-I'll get a baby." "Didn't I just say? As long as we're careful, there won't be one." "I-I'm not listening..." Hiding beneath the covers, Bai Shihan felt as though she had a fever; her entire body was burning up, yet she didn't dare poke her head out for fear of the wicked person outside. "Whoever taught her biology must have been a P.E. teacher." Beneath the blanket, Bai Shihan pouted, wanting to retort but unable to think of a single comeback. Lin Xinyu didn't tease her any further. He went over to the desk and set to work polishing the materials he hadn't finished organizing that morning. After a while, noticing the silence outside, Bai Shihan first took Xiao Lv in her hand to use as a vanguard, cautiously stretching it out from beneath the covers to scout the area. Only after confirming the coast was clear did she slowly crawl out. Seeing that Lin Xinyu was busy, she didn't disturb him. Instead, she picked up her books and began to review. In truth, Bai Shihan desperately wanted Lin Xinyu to study along with her. Judging by their rankings from the last exam, the two of them certainly wouldn't be able to attend the same university, but she simply hadn't found the right opportunity to bring it up with him. Besides, seeing how focused he was at the moment, she hadn't the heart to interrupt. That was just the kind of person Bai Shihan was—always considering others in everything she did, and never putting herself first. *** Finished with his work, Lin Xinyu turned his head just in time to catch Bai Shihan staring at him. She immediately looked away the moment their eyes met. The feeling of getting caught peeking was utterly humiliating... Bai Shihan awkwardly curled her toes, then pretended to be nonchalant, refusing to look at him as a way of escaping the moment. Instead, Lin Xinyu walked right over. "Reading again? An honor student is an honor student; you don't even forget to grind away while staying home on break." Feeling him sit down on the edge of the bed, Bai Shihan grew nervous. What if he suddenly leaned in to do that so-called thing? What should she do... "You know, wouldn't it be pretty nice if I managed to get into the same university as you?" Rather than doing what Bai Shihan had imagined, Lin Xinyu simply sat there quietly and let out a sudden sentiment. Bai Shihan put down Xiao Lv. "I-It's still not too late." There were still more than three months until the college entrance exams. Based on her observations at school over the past few days, Bai Shihan had discovered that Lin Xinyu actually possessed a great deal of talent for studying. He had simply been playful in the past and liked matching wits with the teachers—a classic case of rebellious psychology. "Then will you teach me how to study from now on?" "Mmm, okay." Bai Shihan's heart was filled with joy. She had been harboring this thought all along without knowing how to bring it up to him, and now that her wish had suddenly been granted, she still felt a magical sense of getting everything she wanted. "Please look after me from now on." Lin Xinyu offered his hand for a handshake, looking at Bai Shihan and waiting for a response. Faced with such sudden formality from Lin Xinyu, Bai Shihan felt a bit unaccustomed to it, but she still reached out and shook his hand. Their palms met, his large hand completely enveloping her smaller one and radiating a profound sense of security. At that exact moment, the phone hidden under the pillow rang. Flustered, Bai Shihan yanked her hand back and pulled out her phone to answer it. "Hello? Yeah, I'm here. I know..." Lin Xinyu sat right beside her the entire time. Though he couldn't hear who was on the other end of the line, he could guess from Bai Shihan's deferential tone that it had to be the family members who were making her increasingly withdrawn. Bai Shihan was terrified. It was her father calling. At first, everything seemed fine, but when he began asking about how she had been doing at school lately, she started to falter and stutter. The person on the other end of the line seemed to sense something was amiss and immediately began interrogating her with sharp words. Fortunately, Lin Xinyu kept soothing her, which allowed Bai Shihan to steady her emotions, muster up her courage, and calmly spin a web of lies. "I study every day, I don't stay up late at night, I never socialize with others, I listen to my teachers, and I'm preparing diligently for the college entrance exams." Listening to it all, Lin Xinyu felt a pang of heartache. This must have been the kind of life she had been living all along. Once the call ended, the little girl hugged her knees to her chest, looking like she had done something wrong. Just as Lin Xinyu opened his mouth to comfort her, her mood suddenly shifted from overcast to bright. "Wasn't I amazing?! Right?" Bai Shihan let out a breath, the long-repressed emotions bursting forth all at once. "In the past, I never dared to lie to them. Whatever they said, I would listen. Whatever they told me to do, I would do. But now, I've changed!" Lin Xinyu watched Bai Shihan, who was still hugging her knees, and said nothing, listening quietly. "Tell me, am I a bad kid?"