Fang Yongnian finally breathed out, the sharp pain turning into a dull ache, occasionally a bit itchy. This kind of feeling was actually more tormenting, but he finally had the strength to first deal with his current embarrassment.

The girl hidden in his trunk at this moment was trying hard to blend into the wall of the hourly room, even keeping her breathing as quiet as possible, afraid of disturbing him.

Although sensible, she still deserved a smack.

“Cutting class?” Fang Yongnian leaned back on the sofa, asking the first question.

“Asked for leave.” Lu Yixin weakly corrected, she had sent Zheng Ranran a short emergency message from the trunk this morning, turned off her phone until now for fear of being scolded.

With Zheng Ranran’s loyalty, she should have been able to get through the school part today; the trouble was on Lu Boyuan’s side. By disappearing with her phone off like this, Zheng Ranran would certainly tell her father and make her face a very ugly death.

Lu Boyuan hadn’t hit her before, today he might make an exception.

Fang Yongnian snorted coldly.

Lu Yixin timidly glanced at him, quickly looking away.

Fang Yongnian’s face was pale, hair damp with cold sweat, a few strands stuck to his temples, a few strands covering his eyes.

She almost couldn’t help taking out her phone to snap a photo, luckily her reason returned to the furnace in time……

“Explain the rest yourself.” Fang Yongnian was too lazy to go Q&A with her, he was restoring his strength, calculating whether, after he could move, he could turn around off the highway to send Lu Yixin home and still make it back to Huating City in time.

This girl really was trouble, the phantom-limb itch made him restless and irritable, and he had the impulse to simply take her to Huating City and dump her there.

After all she had brought her ID, she could always find her way home from the train station.

Lu Yixin hugged the electric kettle and took two small quick steps forward, seeing that Fang Yongnian did not mean to glare at her further, she hugged the electric kettle and shuffled a bit closer to him, found a stool and sat down.

She had nothing much to explain.

She couldn’t exactly tell him she had cut class to see his girlfriend and to put a neat full stop on being heartbroken; saying such things to Zheng Ranran was fine, saying them to Fang Yongnian would make him drop her straight down the stairs.

But staying silent was awkward.

“Does your leg not hurt anymore?” She began a flattering small talk.

“I don’t have legs.” Fang Yongnian’s voice was cold.

Small talk failed.

Lu Yixin rubbed her nose.

“Want some hot water?” She shamelessly circled back to the previous topic, the tone exactly the same.

At this moment Fang Yongnian almost felt sympathy for Lu Boyuan, producing such a daughter and still keeping his cardiovascular health intact was truly not easy.

He didn’t even know what he should say next, in this bad atmosphere, after she asked and he kept silent, she actually stood up, bouncing off to start boiling water.

He would absolutely not touch water boiled in an electric kettle in a place like this.

But she was so absorbed in what she was doing, he was too lazy to correct her, so he simply leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest.

Recover strength as quickly as possible, he had to send her home today, otherwise he would be driven to death by anger.

୨୧ ⏔⏔⏔⏔♡⏔⏔⏔⏔ ୨୧

Lu Yixin discovered Fang Yongnian had fallen asleep.

Frowning, arms crossed, maintaining that imposing posture, he slept with his head thrown back.

Lu Yixin quietly unplugged the electric kettle that was about to boil, half-closed the door, and ran to the front desk to extend the stay for another two hours, then ran back to the room and shut the door securely.

During the days when her grandmother had been ill, she had learned how to take care of patients, learned how to quietly cover them with a blanket. She even went and closed the window outside.

Fang Yongnian was sleeping deeply. The sudden severe pain earlier had exhausted his already weak body, and with the blanket Lu Yixin had covered him with, in the warmth of the room he completely fell into a deep sleep.

Lu Yixin crouched and watched Fang Yongnian for a while.

When she almost couldn’t resist reaching out to touch his hair, she quickly took out her phone, turned it on, and sent Zheng Ranran dozens of apology messages on WeChat. After shifting her focus, she put down the phone again, resumed her earlier posture, and continued looking at Fang Yongnian.

He was really good-looking.

The corners of the girl’s lips lifted in happiness; she tilted her head, gazing like a lovesick fool.

She was heartbroken, but she still liked him.

She knew that she didn’t even have the right to say she liked him now. She was too young. Fang Yongnian would only think she was still immature, perhaps even annoying.

But what if Fang Yongnian really couldn’t wait for her to grow up? What if he really married the woman in that photo and completely disappeared from her world? What would she do then?

Every word he had said yesterday had been sincere. Her loss of control yesterday had just given him the chance to say those things. Fang Yongnian was so smart, he must have already noticed her unusual behavior.

He wouldn’t let her cling to him like before anymore. That one “Fang Yongnian” she had called had completely separated the two of them. Let alone being his girlfriend, she didn’t even have the chance to be his niece anymore.

The upward curve of Lu Yixin’s lips slowly fell. Fang Yongnian was right before her eyes, and she finally realized that her impulsive recklessness might have made him disappear from her world forever.

He could do it. Hecheng wasn’t his home, and Lu Boyuan definitely wasn’t a reason for him to stay.

“I don’t like you anymore.” Lu Yixin hugged her knees, half her head buried in her arms, murmuring softly.

“Let’s just stay like before.” She whispered pitifully, cautiously, “You stay in Hecheng and don’t leave, okay?”

“Don’t date anyone, okay?” She lifted her head, half-propping herself closer to Fang Yongnian.

Fang Yongnian opened his eyes.

In truth, he had been woken up by Lu Yixin’s staring. No matter how deeply one slept, being watched like that would still trigger an animal instinct.

But he was too tired, and he didn’t want to face the always-unpredictable Lu Yixin, so he simply kept his eyes shut and pretended to sleep.

He thought she would eventually get bored.

Instead, he heard her murmuring.

There was no way to keep pretending after that. He opened his eyes, bloodshot from just waking up. Lu Yixin was only a dozen centimeters away, he could even feel the cool touch of her breath on his face when she suddenly inhaled.

Lu Yixin froze in place, half her mouth open, petrified in that posture.

Fang Yongnian actually felt a bit awkward too. He hadn’t expected Lu Yixin to be that close. He was lying completely on the sofa, with nowhere to move or avoid.

“Stand up first.” As the only relatively normal adult in the room, he felt obligated to break the awkward scene.

Lu Yixin still had her mouth half open. Fang Yongnian saw her chin start to tremble.

She was about to cry again.

Fang Yongnian was almost helpless.

“Get up first,” he could only make his tone as gentle as possible.

If she were to start crying loudly in an hourly hotel, it might actually draw the police.

Lu Yixin finally reacted. She scooted backward a few steps, putting distance between herself and Fang Yongnian, then buried her head in her knees, motionless.

Fang Yongnian had spent his life reading books and, in recent years, had experienced the warmth and coldness of the human world. But no one had ever taught him what a man was supposed to do at a time like this.

He could only remain in awkward silence, hoping that the eighteen-year-old girl in front of him would somehow figure things out on her own.

“Uncle Fang…” The girl actually spoke. She lifted her head from her knees with courage, her face as red as a tomato, then stood up, trying to act calm and cover everything up. “You’re awake?”

Fang Yongnian: “……”

“I just extended the stay for another two hours. You can keep sleeping if you want.” Once she started talking, the rest came easily.

“I’m a little hungry. I’ll go down and buy something to eat. What do you want?” she said, sounding cheerful.

Fang Yongnian: “……”

Lu Yixin stood there twisting her fingers, a bright, stubborn smile plastered on her face.

Not mentioning it meant it hadn’t happened. She didn’t believe Fang Yongnian would bring up what she had just said and ask about it again.

Those embarrassing words, she could only ever say them once.

She called him “Uncle Fang” again, went back to how she had been before losing control last night, carefree and thoughtless.

Everything was just as before.

The girl calling “Uncle Fang” before and after every sentence, attentive yet cautious.

“Lu Yixin.” Fang Yongnian finally stopped her. This wasn’t a small matter, he couldn’t just let her pretend nothing had happened.

Lu Yixin flinched.

“We need to talk.” Though the time and place were far from ideal, he needed to resolve this as soon as possible.

Lu Yixin flinched again.

Then Fang Yongnian saw her lift her head once more, with a courage that could almost be called reckless. Her eyes met his for half a second—then, right in front of him, she raised her hands, covered her ears, and began to mouth a song.

Fang Yongnian: “……”

If it had been any other girl, he could have easily ignored it. Since the other party wanted to pretend such an awkward thing had never happened, he could play along and pretend too.

But this was Lu Yixin.

From the age of twenty-four, he had always had a soft spot for Lu Yixin. Not enough to see her as his real niece, but he knew very clearly that he did like this girl.

Because they had similar tastes in food, and the things they used to comfort themselves were always something to eat. During the lowest point of his life, the only person who had stayed by his side and tried to cheer him up was Lu Yixin.

He grabbed the hand that Lu Yixin was using to cover her ear, pressing it down firmly.

He stared into her eyes, forcing himself not to soften under that gaze.

“I heard everything you just said.” He frowned, his lips pale, face dark as iron. “And I still remember everything you said last night too.”

“This is impossible,” he said decisively. “And I believe it’s just your illusion.”

Because she had grown up, an illusion caused by hormones.

Lu Yixin whimpered pitifully.

“Just like now,” Fang Yongnian said with a bitter smile, “we’re in an hourly hotel, door closed. If you start crying, I might get arrested.”

“Today you hid in the trunk of my car. If your father calls the police, I might be arrested for abducting a minor.”

“I’m an adult!” Lu Yixin, frightened by his scenario, hurriedly defended herself.

“But you’re still in school, you’re only a second-year high school student.” Fang Yongnian remained calm as ever, even though he was weak enough that a gust of wind could knock him over.

“No matter from which angle you look at it, this is something impossible.” He didn’t even want to utter the word like.

Lu Yixin sniffled. She really had been frightened by what Fang Yongnian said, so much that she didn’t even dare to cry anymore.

“Then… if I keep calling you Uncle Fang?” Her eyes were red as she tried desperately to hold back her tears. “Can’t we just stay the way we were before?”

“What happened has already happened.” Fang Yongnian refused to yield even a little on this matter. “We should keep our distance.”

Since things had already changed, he could no longer be her uncle.

“Besides, I was going to leave anyway.” Fang Yongnian smiled faintly at Lu Yixin. “I was only your uncle from childhood.”

You will grow up. You will have a wider world.

And I—am only your father’s former colleague, a man missing one leg, fourteen years older than you.