“No.” Being pressed on the head by him, unable to move, Xiang Di could only guiltily avert her gaze. “I’m listening to whatever you say.”

Bai Jiangxin: “Then what did I just say?”

Xiang Di: “You said puff…”

Bai Jiangxin: “So what about the puff?”

“Puff, the puff was shared with the people in class to eat.” Xiang Di said. “You were also there during the lunch break, weren’t you… oh, you were looking at your phone at the time, you probably didn’t see it.”

Eh, if he didn’t see it, then how did he know she brought puff to school?

Her answer completely missed the point. Communicating with her was simply ineffective. Bai Jiangxin ground his upper teeth against his lower teeth. “I know you shared the puff.”

Xiang Di was a bit confused. “Then why did you ask.”

“……”

Bai Jiangxin was choked speechless.

That wasn’t what he was asking.

If she wanted to share puff, he had no objection. Knowing how to share meant she was a good child. But if this puff was brought for him, then shouldn’t she at least leave him some?

But why, in the end, did he not get even one, and Wang Sichen instead reaped the benefit?

When did her relationship with Wang Sichen become so good, good to the point that she could generously give all the remaining puff to him to eat?

Wasn’t the person she liked him, Bai Jiangxin?

Liking someone, shouldn’t it mean being biased toward him? Wouldn’t she think of leaving the best and the most portion for him?

What Bai Jiangxin wanted to ask her was actually this.

He pressed his lips tightly together and stared at her. His brows were lowered, and in those black pupils like ink dots on xuan paper, a certain kind of bewildered and contradictory emotion flickered past.

The emotion could not be resolved, and the palm pressing on her head did not vent his anger on her in the end either, but instead slowly dropped down.

But it wasn’t that liking someone meant that one must put this person first in everything, that no matter what one did, this person had to be placed in the first position.

Maybe he had been blinded by her inner thoughts during that period of time, truly thinking that this girl originally liked him that much, so much that he naturally felt that she should like him that much, like him to the point that there were no other people in her eyes, that there could only be him alone.

Moreover, she had never once said to him face to face that she liked him. She had only been thinking it in her heart, yet he had inexplicably declared his sovereignty over her.

In the end, he did not ask any of those words out loud. Bai Jiangxin knew she had no such obligation.

But if he really asked nothing at all, he would only feel even more uncomfortable inside, so he asked the most inconsequential sentence: “…didn’t you say before that you would bring puff for me.”

Xiang Di’s tone was surprised. “Eh? So you still remember?”

When she was sharing puff with other people at noon, he didn’t even look at it. She had thought he had long forgotten, and it even made her feel sad for a little while.

Bai Jiangxin frowned. “Could it be that you don’t remember anymore?”

Xiang Di explained: “I remember, I remember. Actually today’s puff was originally brought for you, because I asked my older brother to help me buy it, so he bought too much, and then told me to conveniently share some with the other people in class. You were busy at the time, so I thought I’d first give some to the others, and then give all the remaining ones to you.”

Bai Jiangxin gave an “mm.” He had already guessed this before.

“Then what about the remaining ones?” He paused, then asked it. “Why were they all given to Wang Sichen?”

Once this was mentioned, Xiang Di felt angry inside. Her small face, which had originally been very gentle, instantly scrunched up.

“Let me tell you!” Her tone became heavier, and she rattled off a whole string. “That Wang Sichen, he’s simply unhygienic. After playing basketball, he doesn’t even wash his hands and just grabs my puff to eat. I originally saved a few for myself, you know. But once he grabbed them like that, I didn’t even want to eat them anymore. How could I still give them to you? So I just gave all of them to him.”

Without comparison, there is no harm. Thinking about it this way, Xiang Di suddenly felt that Bai Jiangxin was even more impeccable. Society’s standards for boys were already low enough. For a boy, no need to ask you to be very handsome—at the very least, you should love cleanliness and be hygienic.

Because she was angry, she forgot to pay attention to her tone in front of Bai Jiangxin. It was just like complaining to a friend. Her mouth kept opening and closing nonstop. She usually gave people the impression of having a very good temper, but when she got angry, she was actually quite lively. Different from her usual quiet appearance, the way she gritted her teeth was like a cat with its back arched—very fierce, but still fluffy.

Someone who was afraid of cats might be scared and think this cat was very fierce, but Bai Jiangxin had raised cats before. He knew how much cats were just bluffing.

Bai Jiangxin didn’t interrupt her. He just quietly watched her and listened to her vigorously badmouth Wang Sichen.

After she finished talking, Xiang Di let out a heavy breath.

After venting, she suddenly reacted—oh no, she had just forgotten to maintain her gentle-lady persona in front of Bai Jiangxin!

Xiang Di hurriedly tried to salvage herself. “Today I really couldn’t stand it. Actually, I don’t get angry very often.”

Bai Jiangxin’s tone was calm. “If you weren’t angry today, that would be the real problem.”

He didn’t seem to mind at all that she had shown that fierce side in front of him.

Xiang Di let out a sigh of relief.

“I thought you had long forgotten that I said I’d bring puff for you. Anyway, you couldn’t eat it today, so I didn’t tell you. I figured at worst I’d bring it for you next time.”

At this point, Xiang Di bit her lip a little in secret delight, raised her head to look at him, and her eyes were full of stars. “…I didn’t expect you to still remember.”

She had originally been quite angry at Wang Sichen, but once she thought about how Bai Jiangxin actually still remembered their puff promise, Xiang Di felt that the world became beautiful again.

Looking at her bright eyes, Bai Jiangxin gave an “mm” and said, “I remember.”

As the corners of her lips gradually lifted, he added, “After all, you’ve been brainwashing me about how good the puff sold downstairs at your place is.”

Just like how, some time ago, she had been brainwashing him every day about liking him.

“Oh, I’m just like this. If I like something, I can’t wait to recommend it to the whole world.” Xiang Di scratched the tip of her nose in embarrassment and mocked herself. “A bit annoying, huh.”

Bai Jiangxin: “It’s okay.”

Xiang Di pursed her lips into a smile and asked him, “So you called me out just to ask me about the puff?”

He opened his mouth, then closed it again the next second. Bai Jiangxin let out a simple “mm” from his throat.

Xiang Di blinked in surprise. She hadn’t expected Bai Jiangxin to actually specially call her out just for a bag of puff.

So it turned out that he actually cared that the puff she brought hadn’t been shared with him.

He had always given people the feeling of being a high, unreachable flower—aloof, cold, and distant, as if nothing in this world was worthy of receiving even a glance from him. Who would have thought that the puff sold downstairs at her place would actually earn his second look.

Then it seemed that the puff downstairs at her place really suited his taste, to the point that he could be this unable to forget it.

Xiang Di felt that there suddenly seemed to be a bit more of mortal, everyday warmth about Bai Jiangxin. So it turned out he also had a greedy-for-snacks side. Not only did she not feel any sense of disillusionment, she instead felt that he was quite cute. After all, no matter how steady he was, he was still just an eighteen-year-old high school boy.

Xiang Di secretly laughed in her heart and said aloud, “Then if you want to eat it, I’ll bring it for you next time?”

Bai Jiangxin: “Okay.”

“Then let’s go back to the classroom? Class is about to start.”

“Okay.”

She had just started walking toward the classroom when Bai Jiangxin called her from behind.

Xiang Di turned her head. “Ah?”

“Next time, just buy one portion. I can finish it by myself.” He paused, then said lightly, “Don’t give any more to Wang Sichen.”

Xiang Di patted her chest. “Don’t worry! Only for you, absolutely not a single one for him!”

The class bell rang. This period was the homeroom teacher’s chemistry class. Xiang Di didn’t dare be late. Although she knew that even if Bai Jiangxin were late, the teacher wouldn’t say anything to him, she still reminded him, “You should hurry back to the classroom too.”

Then she took off, running in the direction of the classroom.

Today she didn’t tie her hair into a bun. It was a simple, refreshing ponytail, the braid swinging behind her head, strands of hair lifting into soft arcs in the air.

Her legs weren’t long, but they were agile and light, and she ran quite fast. The wind from the corridor windows poured into her loose school uniform, propping up her slender silhouette. Her back view was so cheerful. It was still early spring, the green that belonged to summer had not yet arrived, yet he had already seen the shadow of summer on her.

Bai Jiangxin didn’t know that during those three years of high school, through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, Xiang Di had also countless times gazed at his back—when he wore long sleeves, when he wore short sleeves, when he wore white shoes, when he wore black shoes. She had even seen the times he had trimmed the hair at the back of his neck shorter.

He hadn’t expected that one day, she too would be quietly watched by him, even though she herself still didn’t know it.

─── ꒰ঌ·✦·໒꒱ ───

That evening, Wang Sichen treated Xiang Di to a meal in the cafeteria.

Xiang Di asked him about what he and Bai Jiangxin had chatted about during the afternoon physics class. How could Wang Sichen possibly tell Xiang Di that he had been bragging to Bai Jiangxin, saying that his relationship with her was good? So he laughed it off and brushed it aside.

Seeing his guilty-looking expression, Xiang Di suddenly thought of a possibility.

She had heard that when boys were together, they liked to talk about yellow topics…

Xiang Di tentatively asked, “You guys weren’t talking about some eighteen-plus topics, were you?”

Wang Sichen nearly spat out a mouthful of rice on the spot.

“How could that be! I’m very pure, okay?”

Xiang Di glanced at him and didn’t say anything, but the suspicious look in her eyes already explained everything.

Wang Sichen said helplessly, “Even if I wanted to talk eighteen-plus with Bai Jiangxin, do you think Bai Jiangxin would bother with me? With the way he is, he looks like a reincarnated eminent monk. If I talked about that with him, I’d be thanking heaven if he didn’t call the anti-porn hotline to have me taken away.”

Xiang Di froze for a moment. That was true.

She silently shoveled a mouthful of rice. Since even Wang Sichen knew not to talk eighteen-plus with Bai Jiangxin, then she had to guard her own dirty little yellow heart even more tightly. Absolutely must not expose it.

Otherwise, wouldn’t she directly scare that Monk Bai into fainting on the spot. (TL: I think you already did)

Seeing that she had gone silent, Wang Sichen suddenly laughed. “Xiang Di, I didn’t know you before. I didn’t expect you to even know about eighteen-plus. Have you watched it?”

Before Xiang Di could speak, Liang Qianqian beside her immediately put down her chopsticks and covered Xiang Di’s ears.

“Hey, no talking about this kind of colored topic with Xiang Di.” Liang Qianqian warned. “It’s bad enough that at noon you dirtied the puff with your dirty hand. Now you even want to use your filthy, rotten heart to contaminate Xiang Di’s pure little heart?”