"If you ask me, Xinyu, did you completely forget about your brothers all day today? No mosquito coils lit, no trips to the tuck shop, not even studying any educational adult videos?"
Before Lin Xinyu could even get close, the other person was already complaining.
Looking at his current figure filled him with a genuine sense of nostalgia.
His good buddy Kong Yu, nicknamed Fatty Kong—don't let his bulky physique fool you; in the future, he would serve as living proof of the saying that fat guys are actually potential stocks with hidden good looks.
It was just that his taste in people was a bit lacking. The so-called true love he eventually found turned out to be just fulfilling a mission given to her by her master.
"Stop whining and watch your mouth, we're model students here."
"Well, well, Brother Yu, playing that card with me? Did you hide the mosquito coils to smoke by yourself?"
While the two of them were close friends, they were also frenemies. As childhood besties who had grown up together, they were always trying to take advantage of each other in every possible way, yet whenever trouble struck, the first one to step up was invariably the other.
"Here, take it, take it, take it. It's all yours."
Lin Xinyu reached right into his pocket to pull out the mosquito coils, but when he took them out, he found they had all turned into snacks.
Kong Yu was just about to criticize this behavior when Lin Xinyu cut him off.
The two of them had already walked some distance. Normally, Little Dilly would definitely be trailing right behind them, but... could it be that it was just tonight that she changed into that kind of personality?
At this thought, Lin Xinyu didn't have time to deal with Kong Yu; he turned around and sprinted back toward the classroom. I've finally managed to come back here, I won't let you turn into that state again!
His anxious state of mind fueled his pace, instantly leaving Kong Yu far behind. As he neared the classroom, that paper-thin girl he cared about so deeply finally appeared in his field of vision.
At that moment, Bai Shihan looked deeply wronged. She had been hurrying to follow right behind Lin Xinyu, but failing to notice that the snack packaging had torn open, she scattered the remaining biscuits all over the floor and was forced to stop and pick them up.
Fortunately, there was hardly anyone around, or else she truly wouldn't have known what to do. It was just that tonight, she probably wouldn't be able to keep up with him anymore...
Bai Shihan let out a sigh, diligently cleaning up while ignoring the noises coming from around her.
Until someone squatted down beside her, the sound of heavy breathing quite distinct. Just listening to the sound, it felt somewhat familiar. She looked up and, as if seeing something impossible, instinctively shifted her body backward.
Yet before she could even react, she was grabbed by that bad guy.
"Let's go, we're going home."
Bai Shihan didn't even get any chance to speak.At night, a gentle breeze drifted by. For some reason, Xiaobai felt as though she had done something wrong, and she instinctively lowered her head, not daring to look at the big bad wolf, only mumbling from time to time:
"Bi-, biscuit..."
Chapter 7. You can't pinch my cheeks anymore...
"From now on, you're coming home with me."
Lin Xinyu didn't turn his head to look at Bai Shihan, and precisely because of this, the little white rabbit offered no rebuttal, nodding obediently.
Judging by his rapid breathing and anxious tone, Bai Shihan knew for certain that he was upset.
So her small hand reached into her pants pocket, pulled out a piece of candy she had prepared earlier, and slowly extended it toward Lin Shinyu.
"Ha-, have some candy..."
Even though she had taken the initiative, under the glow of the streetlamp, the blush on her face was still clearly visible.
"What the hell, man! Did you ditch me just to pick up chicks?"
When he saw Lin Shinyu rush off earlier, if his physical build hadn't held him back, Kong Yu would have kept right up with him.
He had originally thought it was some urgent matter, but upon arriving at the spot, he found a timid girl in a school uniform standing right beside him.
Kong Yu couldn't help but think: *Well, well, so our boy is into this type? What kind of hero bullies a girl—if you've got the guts, let me at her!*
"Fatty, dial it back. Don't scare your sister-in-law!"
Feeling Little Dilly tugging at the corner of his shirt beside him, Lin Shinyu immediately checked Kong Yu.
"N-, no..."
Bai Shihan's voice was very soft. Habitually, she wanted to refute him, but she didn't let go of the hem of Lin Shinyu's shirt.
"Man, you got yourself a partner and forgot all about your bros?"
With that, he shuffled closer to the two of them. The heavy smell of tobacco on him was so strong that it forced Bai Shihan to shrink back even further behind Lin Shinyu.
Perhaps sensing that they were good friends, Bai Shihan only frowned and didn't use her stuttering to voice her displeasure. It was obvious she didn't want to say anything that might upset them.
"Alright, Fatty, cut the nonsense. From now on, we've got an extra person walking home after school."
"What? Does she smoke Zhonghuas too?"
Already a bit frightened, Bai Shihan widened her eyes upon hearing what Kong Yu said.
S-, smoke... Zhonghuas?
Having been desk-mates with Lin Shinyu for so long, Bai Shihan wasn't completely clueless; she could understand those words.
The moment she imagined herself smelling like that obnoxious odor, she hurriedly let go of his shirt and shook her head."No, no, I don't smoke..."
"Why are you such a coward? Are you guys really friends?"
Before Kong Yu could continue voicing his suspicions, Lin Xinyu pulled Bai Shihan to the side. The moment she started frowning, he could tell she hated the smell of smoke on Fatty.
"Fatty, focus on your studies."
Lin Newniu didn't say anything further. Having already been through this age himself, he knew that no amount of advice could reach someone in their rebellious phase, so he just offered a brief warning before leading Bai Shihan out of the school.
Left standing there in a daze, Kong Yu wondered why Brother Yu was acting like a completely different person today. Wasn't he the one who taught him how to blow smoke rings in the first place...
At the school gate.
In crowded areas, Bai Shihan still felt nervous, staying closely behind Lin Xinyu the entire way. It wasn't until they reached a quieter spot that she let out a sigh of relief and prepared to slip away, only to find herself quickly blocked by him.
If she hadn't noticed him in time, she might easily have bumped right into his arms.
Bai Shihan stopped in her tracks, her eyes carrying a hint of a plea. "Don't bully me..."
Taking advantage of the empty street and the moonlight, Lin Xinyu pinched her delicate cheek. "Why were you running so fast?"
"S-scared."
"What are you scared of?"
"You..."How could someone not be afraid when a person suddenly started calling her his wife out of nowhere starting today?
If she hadn't sensed that he was genuinely concerned about her and hadn't made any other inappropriate moves, she would have asked to change her seat long ago.
Though somewhat reluctant to let go of the smooth skin in his palm, Lin Xinyu chose to release his hand, afraid of causing her any internal panic.
If she hadn't even offered him candy in return, Lin Xinyu would seriously have been considering whether to try a different approach to win her over.
Bai Shihan pouted her little lips with a grievance-stricken look, obediently standing in place without leaving. After pondering for a brief moment, she mustered up the courage to raise her head and look straight into Lin Xinyu's eyes.
"You, you're lying..."
"Huh? How am I lying?"
"You said, you said you wouldn't b-bully me."
"As long as you don't think about sneaking away, I definitely won't bully you."
Bai Shihan tilted her little head and thought about it earnestly. "Okay, I, I won't run away..."
Hearing her promise him, Lin Xinyu felt happy inside. Whenever Little Dilly made a promise, she would definitely keep it.
"From now on, I'll walk you home, okay? It's very unsafe for a girl to go home alone at night."Hearing what he said, Bai Shihan shrank back a little. "N-No, I, I'm afraid of you..."
"Why would you be afraid of me? I'm not a bad person!"
"B-B-But you told me to be your wife..."
Lin Xinyu couldn't help laughing at Bai Shihan, never expecting that this was what she was worried about. "I'm not asking you to be my wife—you *are* my wife. You can say no, you know. It's not like I'm going to force you to be my wife."
Bai Shihan lowered her head, as if she were carefully pondering Lin Xinyu's words. After a moment, she said, "T-Then, from now on, y-you can't, you can't pinch my cheeks anymore..."
"I'll do my best."
If she was being too cute and he couldn't help himself, well, he couldn't entirely blame himself either.
Lin Xinyu walked ahead. Despite Bai Shihan's timid nature, she didn't walk slowly at all and managed to keep pace with him the entire way.
"I'm not bullying you. It really isn't safe at night, and since you live alone, having someone with you means you won't have to sneak around and hide from people on your way home."
Bai Shihan, who had been walking along just fine, suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Lin Xinyu with a trace of vigilance.
How did he know she lived alone?
"I live alone too. I used to be really scared, just like you, dodging people on the way home."
Hearing Bai Shihan let out a sigh of relief, Lin Xinyu finally felt at ease. Obviously, this was just an excuse made up to comfort Bai Shihan, mainly to put her mind at ease.
Under the moonlight, their shadows on the ground were clearly visible.
Because of the angle, the positions of their hands in the shadows overlapped.
Bai Shihan, who had been keeping her head down, naturally noticed this scene.
The little white rabbit seemed to take the initiative; she reached out her little hand so that it overlapped with the shadow of his hand, one right after the other, looking remarkably like holding hands.
"W-We're here..."
As time passed, Bai Shihan led Lin Xinyu to the door of her residence. She wanted to say goodbye to him, but because she remembered the little trick in the shadows just now, she was too nervous to speak.
Then she tucked her hand into her pocket and rummaged around.
Just as Lin Xinyu was wondering what she was doing, a White Rabbit creamy candy appeared in his field of vision.
Card readers weren't common in schools back then, and the tuck shop sometimes couldn't make change, so creamy candies became the perfect substitute. That was why whenever Bai Shihan bought something, she always had a few candies in her pocket.
"H-Here, for you..."When Lin Xinyu reached out his hand, he teased on purpose: "Is this the reward for husband escorting you home?"
Unexpectedly, Bai Shihan went back on her word. Just as he was about to touch her, she pulled her hand back.
"What do you mean? Playing with me?"
"N-no, no, I, I, I don't agree!"
He had told her she could refuse, and he wouldn't force her...
008. Be a good girl, open your mouth, ah
Compared to boys' rooms, girls' rooms are mostly neat and clean, and most importantly, free of any strange odors.
Not to mention a room belonging to someone like Bai Shihan, who would definitely keep it tidy, especially her personal space, where she had specifically made room to arrange her things.
Black lace-trimmed ones, bow-knotted ones, little Totoro ones.
All different colors and a wide variety, with basically no duplicates.
Most of the clothes in the wardrobe were dresses. Perhaps because of school, she rarely tried them on. Even so, one could tell from this that Bai Shihan loved wearing little dresses.
She took a slip dress out from inside, took off her white lace-trimmed short socks, and her jade-like feet were slowly bared to the air.
For her, only when she stayed in her room did she feel completely relaxed.
Perhaps also because of fear, Bai Shihan's bedroom was not designed to be very large, but one could feel that everything was arranged in an orderly manner.
Before long, the sound of water came from the bathroom.
Her flawless skin was now fully revealed, with droplets of water trickling slowly down her neck, and the flush on her cheeks lingered stubbornly.
Especially when recalling her conversation with Lin Xinyu, Bai Shihan unconsciously hugged herself tightly.
She definitely wouldn't let him come over for dinner...
In this era, although QQ was not that smart, it was still usable.
As for mobile phones, Apple hadn't appeared yet, and according to the timeline, the most popular Motorola V3 was about to be released.
Its fashionable appearance and unique flip design made it the coveted dream of countless young people. Thanks to the blessing of chord ringtones, the advertising slogan "Hello, Moto" also entered thousands of households from then on and became well-known to many consumers.
Before that, Nokia was definitely the most reliable.
Holding the phone full of memories, Lin Xinyu's first reaction was to check if he could use QQ.
After some fiddling, he learned that it could basically meet the needs for online chatting with friends; he could only communicate after the other party came online.
Tiny buttons, full of memories. After tinkering with it for a little while, Lin Xinyu barely got used to it, entered the QQ number he knew by heart, and chose to add a friend.
The only uncertain thing was that there was a high probability the other person wouldn't come online, so he would just have to give her a little guidance tomorrow after going to school...
The next day.
Bai Shihan woke up to the cheerful chirping of birds. Every time was her best mood, and she would feel extra relaxed.
She stretched lazily, and her white camisole strap seemed to understand the intention, slowly slipping down from her fair shoulder to reveal it.
Raising her other little hand, Bai Shihan rubbed her eyes, which could not yet open fully. Then she slipped off the camisole, changed into her school uniform, and finally pulled out another pair of white short socks from the wardrobe, extending her jade-like feet to slowly slide them on.
She got out of bed and prepared to wash up.
When everything was ready, Bai Shihan shouldered her schoolbag, took a mop from the bathroom, and cleaned up the entire path she had walked before, only then leaving with satisfaction.
It was time to go downstairs again.
Thinking that she would soon have to face the crowd from time to time, she inexplicably felt a little flustered inside, but remembering what she had promised Lin Xinyu, she gritted her teeth and plucked up her courage.
Come on, you can do it!
It wasn't until she walked onto the main road leading to the school that she remembered she hadn't prepared breakfast...
Just as she was about to turn her head, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her.
Bai Shihan was timid and didn't dare to raise her head, wanting to take a detour to stay away from him.
"What? Not even going to look at who it is?"
Lin Xinyu had been waiting under her building for a long time, but he hadn't expected this little dullard not to look where she was walking at all, knowing only to lower her head to avoid others without glancing at who was coming, blindly wanting to hurry to the classroom.
Hearing a voice that sounded a bit like that rascal deskmate, Bai Shihan finally raised her head, and after confirming it was him, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he wasn't a good person and was always thinking of hitting on her, at least being with him wouldn't make her too nervous, and she might even feel somewhat relaxed.
"Did you bring breakfast? Did you prepare my share?"
It wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't mentioned it, but as soon as he spoke, Bai Shihan remembered, and she turned around to go back.
"Forgot to prepare it?"
"N-no, no, I forgot to make..." Afraid that Lin Xinyu would misunderstand, Bai Shihan went on to explain, "I didn't, didn't make mine either."
Now Lin Xinyu understood completely; he reached out and grabbed her schoolbag, stopping her from leaving.
"Come on, I'm taking you to get sweet bean curd."
"Ah?"
She usually prepared her own breakfast, and this sudden invitation to go out and eat with him took Bai Shihan by surprise. She waved her hands repeatedly, wanting to refuse, but her schoolbag was grabbed by him as he pulled her toward the school.
"You, you're, you're lying again..." Bai Shihan hummed softly, "I, I won't believe you anymore."
Lin Xinyu let it go in one ear and out the other. Never interacting with the outside world simply wouldn't do; besides, they were just buying breakfast, so she definitely needed some training.
When the crowd grew larger, Lin Xinyu let go of Bai Shihan's schoolbag for fear that she would feel uncomfortable.
Even so, Bai Shihan didn't take the opportunity to escape because she knew the consequence of doing so: she would definitely face harsher punishment from him.
"This grandmother is very easy to talk to. You have to learn to communicate with people, and slowly you won't be afraid."
"Okay..."
"Then you go over and buy two bowls of bean curd."
"No, no, no!"
In her haste, her stuttering vanished. Bai Shihan shook her head repeatedly and even backed away a step as a refusal.
"Sweet or savory?"
"S-sweet, sweet..."
After answering, Bai Shihan had her schoolbag hoisted again and walked with Lin Xinyu toward the old woman's stall.
After the whole process was done, Bai Shihan noticed Lin Xinyu staring at her, which felt a bit strange.
"Did you learn how?"
"A little bit..."
With that, she pulled money out of her pocket, preparing to pay him back.
"You paid for my dinner yesterday, so I still owe you four treats of bean curd."
Four times?
Bai Shihan widened her eyes. If she had known this would happen, she wouldn't have paid for him yesterday...
Right beside the stall, Lin Xinyu stirred the bean curd, but instead of handing it to Bai Shihan at the end, he scooped a spoonful: "Ah, open your mouth."
"N-no, don't...!"
"Take one bite and I won't make you buy bean curd."
Bai Shihan had been resisting just a moment ago, but thinking that he would make her go buy bean curd for the next few days, she still nodded: "You, you can't trick me..."
Lin Xinyu wore a serious expression, locking eyes with her expressive eyes: "Knowing each other for so long, when have I ever lied to you?"
Growing a bit shy from being stared at, Bai Shihan lowered her head and remembered what happened earlier: "Y-you said yesterday you wouldn't, wouldn't bully me."
"Don't go wronging a good person like that, Bai Shihan. I'm doing this for your health, it's not bullying."
Bai Shihan raised her head slightly, her fingers pinching and rubbing the corner of her clothes: "This is..."
"Then are you going to eat it or not? If not, wait downstairs for me tomorrow to buy me bean curd."
"I'll eat, I'll eat!"
Seeing that Lin Xinyu was about to take the bowl away, Bai Shihan finally gave up resisting.
"Good girl, come on, open your mouth."
"Ah..."
The sweet bean curd entered her mouth, and for the first time, Bai Shihan discovered it was actually this delicious.
A flush crept across her face in waves, and only then was Lin Xinyu satisfied, handing the rest of the bean curd to her.
"No bean curd tomorrow, we're having wontons."
Bai Shihan bit the spoon, the bean curd still unswallowed in her mouth.
L-liar.
009. Come on, lean in and smell it
The morning sun was not very strong.
Even so, when walking into the campus, as long as she could see Lin Xinyu's shadow on the ground, Bai Shihan would stretch out her little foot and step on it to vent her inner dissatisfaction.
Perhaps she was too absorbed and didn't notice at all that Lin Xinyu had stopped walking, bumping squarely into his back.
Lin Xinyu turned around and reached out to steady her: "What are you thinking about, being so focused?"
Bai Shihan's gaze darted away, not daring to look at him.
After a long moment with no movement, she looked up again to size up Lin Xinyu. Finding that he was staring at her intently, she hurriedly broke away, turned sideways, and refused to let him look.
The two of them walked into the classroom one after the other.
In the third year of high school, everyone's attention was basically focused on studying, with very little gossip, as long as it didn't affect them.
Even those who didn't like studying would feel too embarrassed to make a ruckus in the classroom.
Old Chen's guidance style was like this: he would not give up on a single student in the class. If their grades weren't good, he wouldn't force them to study desperately; as long as they learned how to be good people, doing their best on grades was enough.
As for why Lin Xinyu always used to go against him, it was merely out of face issues.Students in their rebellious phase were basically all the same—they understood the principles, but simply didn't want to follow them.
Returning to their seats, Lin Xinyu didn't continue to make things difficult for Bai Shihan, instead taking out his textbook to review.
Bai Shihan watched this whole series of actions, feeling a quiet sense of delight in her heart.