Yan Luqing put in quite a lot of effort to make this phone case—she suddenly had a streak of good fortune, and in several generations, there actually appeared two real objects. Right now, there were two bundles of genuine bamboo shoots laid out on the floor of her room.

The fragrance was refreshing, and the atmosphere of a bamboo grove was instantly present, as if she were a giant panda living there.

Naturally, Gu Ci could not possibly know the meaning behind this phone case.

Not to mention him, no person with a normal line of thought would be able to guess it. Aside from herself, no one should be able to know.

Yan Luqing observed his every movement.

Gu Ci stared at that image for a few seconds, his eyes half lowered, long eyelashes concealing his emotions—she could not tell exactly what his thoughts were.

“This picture…” Gu Ci did not look for long, raising his gaze to her, “what meaning does it have?”

Yan Luqing spoke nonsense casually: “It’s just an artwork. People who paint all look at inspiration—how can there be any fixed meaning?”

Hearing this, Gu Ci smiled: “An artwork…”

It was clear he was about to ridicule her! So before he could say the rest, Yan Luqing hurriedly interrupted him: “Designed by a folk artist, of course it’s an artwork.”

After that, she directly took his phone and the case in his hand, snapped them together with a crisp “ka-da,” not giving him the chance to resist.

“That’s good now,” Yan Luqing shoved the phone with its newly fitted case back into his hand, then took the lead, “let’s set out now.”

Because she hadn’t managed to reach anyone all morning, Little Braids had sent Yan Luqing quite a few messages. But ever since she woke up she had been absorbed in creating, and only when she got into the car did she open WeChat to reply.

In the car going to the school, Yan Luqing was so happy she was about to burst, even humming out-of-tune little songs.

Gu Ci asked blandly: “So happy?”

“Yes,” Yan Luqing answered, “I’m about to see the work I participated in displayed to the public—of course I’m happy!”

But in her heart she fiercely denied: Nonsense!

It was all because the Princess of the Bamboo Shoot Kingdom had put on the exclusive phone case, with a picture of him drawn on it—yet he himself still didn’t know! Just thinking about it made her mood explode with joy.

This was probably the counterattack from a panda who had been spoiled with bamboo shoots.

Panda Yan could not restrain her own joyous emotions, and thinking she ought to do something to divert her attention, she once again opened the short video app in the car, scrolling through videos right in front of Gu Ci.

Sometimes she would, facing pretty girls, call them “wife” in all sorts of ways. Because she was in such a good mood today, her mouth was especially sweet—

Runaway Saintess: 【I give your looks a 94, and 6 points are deducted because you distracted me into running a red light.】

Sometimes when she scrolled to silly videos, she would still, as before, throw in a sarcastic comment according to the content—

Runaway Saintess: 【God gave you a pair of eyes not for you to play link-the-dots.】

Sometimes when she came across pretentious, meaningless captions, she could not help but join in—

Runaway Saintess: 【If you feel wronged just because you aren’t understood, then have you understood math and physics? They don’t feel wronged.】

After she had scrolled enough, she locked her phone again, and sat properly, watching the scenery outside the window fly backward swiftly.

Yan Luqing suddenly thought of something, turned her head to glance at Gu Ci, “By the way, when do you start school?”

Gu Ci said: “Tomorrow.”

Tomorrow was Monday, and Yan Luqing also had to start attending classes.

But when she thought of this person’s recent routine, she asked in doubt: “Then over at your uncle’s side…”

“I told him. From now on, I’ll contact him during the day.”

“Oh oh,” Yan Luqing said casually, “that’s good then.”

After these words, Gu Ci inexplicably gave her a glance.

Because it was just past noon, with the sunlight at his back, his expression could not be clearly seen—only the pitch-black depths of his eyes were visible.

Sensing the gaze he swept over her, Yan Luqing explained further: “I’m just worried about you suddenly dying, that’s all. Nowadays there are more and more news stories of people suddenly dying from staying up late and lack of sleep. We also have to worry a little about ourselves.”

Lack of sleep?

Gu Ci was silent for a long while, then suddenly gave a low laugh: “Actually, you don’t need to worry.”

If even her current state required worry about lack of sleep, then there weren’t many people in the world who could still manage to fall asleep.

Yan Luqing looked at him in puzzlement, just about to ask “why,” when Gu Ci beat her to it and spoke first.

“Why are you recently so…” He paused for a moment, then continued, “fond of going out?”

Gu Ci lifted his eyelids slightly, asking in a joking tone: “Has your heart really gone wild?”

“……”

He really had remembered that phrase “heart gone wild.”

Yan Luqing blinked and said earnestly: “When I sent you that message, it was a joke. It’s just that maybe after staying at home too long, once I started school, I suddenly felt like going out wasn’t so bad.”

Although going to school was passive, and going out yesterday was also passive.

But Yan Luqing’s salted-fish homebody temperament was not something she had actively cultivated. She wasn’t born salted. The problem was—if she wasn’t salted, it would mean going out. Since going out was involved, that meant she needed money!

Going out to play needed money, traveling far needed even more money.

In the past, where would she get the money to not be a salted fish? Of course, staying at home and being a recluse was the most economical. As time went on, she left the impression on those around her that she didn’t like going out.

But speaking of traveling…

Yan Luqing suddenly thought of that time she went to Dieye Mountain with Gu Ci. Although there had been other classmates too, when it came down to it, she still had interacted the most with Gu Ci.

Although there had been an accident, many things from that trip always made her recall them frequently after returning—like when she saw some boy at school playing with a Rubik’s cube, she would remember that lopsided one she had given Gu Ci back then, along with a whole bag of puzzles she herself couldn’t solve.

And then, in the middle of the next class, she would zone out, fragments of images flashing through her mind—all of them from that day and night when she and Gu Ci had accidentally fallen into the tree hole.

Perhaps memories really did come with their own filters. Clearly, she had gone to Dieye Mountain because Makka Pakka had reminded her to complete a mission. Yet, when it came time to leave, she had unexpectedly felt a surge of reluctance again and again, and after leaving, her memories of it only grew deeper.

Gu Ci, hearing this, casually asked in return, “Really?”

At this moment, the two of them sat neither too close nor too far apart. Because the car was expensive, it was very spacious—there was even enough room in the middle to easily fit a small Hei.

It was the exact same seating arrangement as the day they had gone to Dieye Mountain.

Yan Luqing turned her head to look into his eyes, her train of thought jumping all over. In the past she hadn’t had money to go out, now that she did, she couldn’t waste it, right?

And what had been the conclusion of the last trip to Dieye Mountain?

Going out with Gu Ci—even if there was an accident, it didn’t matter.

Going out with Gu Ci—she was truly happy.

An impulse seized her, and Yan Luqing instantly grew excited. Looking at Gu Ci, she said: “Hey, why don’t we go again—”

But in the next moment, she got stuck at the four words “go on a trip.”

Traveling with a group of high school classmates was nothing.

But traveling with just two people seemed a little too intimate.

And besides, they still had to attend classes afterward, and Gu Ci probably also had to continue working hard at his uncle’s side—otherwise how could he achieve those accomplishments written in the book?

Yan Luqing instantly calmed down.

She thought for a moment and swallowed those four words back down completely.

Such an obvious cutoff—naturally Gu Ci could hear that something was off.

He looked at Yan Luqing, who suddenly turned her head back, as if she had just experienced being fired up and then cooling down, and confirmed: “Where were we going again? Why didn’t you finish?”

“Nothing,” Yan Luqing smiled nonchalantly, “I just suddenly remembered that fried chicken place you took me to last time. I wanted fried chicken, but I suppose we still can’t eat fried food… so I didn’t want to say it anymore.”

After saying that, she gave herself a perfect score for this explanation in her heart: Mm, flawless.

At the art club’s exhibition, the crowd was enormous. By the time Yan Luqing and Gu Ci arrived, the wall where her painting hung was surrounded by people taking photos. Besides photographing the painting itself, some were photographing others, or using the painting as a backdrop to take selfies.

This left Yan Luqing deeply shocked.

She had thought that the main force of this club was so few—at most, they had only filled one table—that today’s exhibition would probably be rather deserted.

She had brought Gu Ci partly with the intention of boosting their popularity a little. Unexpectedly, they didn’t need her at all.

When Little Braids found her, the first thing Yan Luqing said was to complain about this: “I really didn’t expect your club’s activities to be this popular…”

Before she could continue, she noticed Little Braids making exaggerated signals with her eyes toward the space behind her.

Then Little Braids’s voice squeezed out from between her teeth, drilling into Yan Luqing’s ear: “What nonsense are you talking about! Hurry up and introduce me!”

Yan Luqing looked at the corners of her friend’s eyes, twitching like cramps, and sighed inwardly. This day had finally come.

She turned back to Gu Ci and said: “This is my best friend in school, her name is Xiao… no, her name is Xiao Xiao, nickname Little Braids.”

Little Braids gritted her teeth viciously: “The nickname doesn’t need to be introduced at all.”

Yan Luqing ignored that and followed the procedure, pointing to Gu Ci: “His name is Gu Ci, he is my…”

When it came to their relationship, Yan Luqing subtly paused for two seconds.

And precisely because of those two seconds, Little Braids immediately waved her hand with great tact: “Alright, alright, no need to introduce the relationship, I understand, I completely understand, didn’t you already tell me?” Then she immediately craned her head out from Yan Luqing’s side to greet him: “Hello, handsome, I’ve long admired you, long admired you.”

While saying hello, she was thinking: These two really were too well matched.

This height, these looks—how should she describe it? Besides the conventional terms of “handsome guy” and “beautiful girl,” she also had the feeling of looking at a strikingly imposing great beauty together with a charming, adorable little beauty.

All in all, they were a perfect match!

“Hello.” Gu Ci smiled at Little Braids, the kind of polite smile that was just right, but his tone seemed rather curious. “What did she tell you?”

Little Braids, seeing such a handsome person up close, was still not quite used to it. She froze for a moment before saying, “She’s told me a lot. Which one do you mean?”

While the two of them were chatting, Yan Luqing stood frozen in place.

The reason was nothing else—she suddenly realized that just now, when introducing Gu Ci to Little Braids, when she had said, “He’s Gu Ci, he’s my—”, the first word that had popped up in her mind was—

…“wife.”

Strung together it was—“He’s my wife.”

If she connected the whole sentence from the beginning, it became—“His name is Gu Ci, he’s my wife.”

“…………”

…What a sin!!!

Aaaah, what illness do you have?! How could you think of that kind of introduction!!!

Was it because of too much brain-only nonsense normally? Because of all those metaphors about “wife of the clan head”? Had it already become a conditioned reflex?

Yan Luqing’s heart suffered an immense shock. By the time she noticed the two people beside her again, their conversation had already ended.

Gu Ci’s expression was as usual, while Little Braids’s eyes were bright and her cheeks were red.

“Don’t you misunderstand!” Little Braids came to her side, pointing at her own face, very honestly and quietly saying, “I’ve never seen your boyfr—pfft, I mean I’ve never seen your friend this handsome in real life. This blush is just out of politeness. I’m absolutely one-hearted and steadfast toward my boyfriend.”

Yan Luqing: “……” So this was the idiom foundation of a science student? Truly an eye-opener.

Yan Luqing gave an “oh,” but her attention was not on that. “What did you two say?”

At this distance—probably afraid Gu Ci would hear—Little Braids whispered: “Don’t worry, I didn’t say anything I shouldn’t have.”

“……?” Yan Luqing didn’t remember at first, and whispered back, “What do I have that can’t be said?”

Little Braids: “I didn’t tell him that he said you were cute, and I didn’t say that you like him as if he were a paper-man.”

“……” That indeed really couldn’t be said.

Yan Luqing gave her an approving look.

Little did she know, the two of them whispering so openly in front of someone, their behavior might as well have had big characters pasted above their heads: Something’s fishy.

…

Today Little Braids was wearing the club’s uniform outfit. Quite a few of the senior students present were also dressed the same, so she probably had the task of introducing the exhibition to visitors while also doing recruitment. Yan Luqing didn’t want to hold her up, so she waved her hand and said: “You go get busy, we’ll look around ourselves.”

After Little Braids left, Yan Luqing and Gu Ci began to seriously tour the exhibition.

Since it was an art club, most of the works were paintings, and among them were quite a few of the types Yan Luqing really liked. She would stop and take a photo.

Only—there was one thing bothering her—