Fang Yongnian remained motionless.

Lu Yixin was in his arms, the soft touch exactly the same as the night she was drunk, she touched his head one stroke after another.

Such an action, in his memory, it seemed no one had ever done this to him.

She said what he could not say, she said it.

She not only understood the barrier between them, she even saw his struggle, the secret and dark struggle he had been through in this period of time.

He agreed to her because he simply could not let go of her.

“Lu Yixin.” He found his voice a little hoarse, his eyes beginning to sting.

“Mm?” Lu Yixin’s fuzzy hair ends tucked against his neck, a little itchy, a little cool.

“If I really planned on marriage and children, would you be afraid?” When he asked this question, he did not look at her, nor did he hold her.

He still sat motionless on the sofa, futilely straightening his back.

The question he asked was so excessive he even wanted to strangle himself.

This was the most excessive question he had ever asked in his life, and also the question he had truly wanted to ask.

He had originally planned to remain alone, but that person was Lu Yixin, so he couldn’t help being greedy.

Lu Yixin’s always-forward courage had influenced him, she made his greed concrete.

Would you be afraid?

For someone like him, physically and mentally incomplete, to put forward such a request, you, would you be afraid?

“Afraid.” Lu Yixin lifted her head to look at him, wrinkling her nose and frowning, “Giving birth is so painful!”

Fang Yongnian: “……”

“And besides……” her brow furrowed tighter, “I think my dad will really kill someone.”

Fang Yongnian: “……”

“Do you think, do heart emergency pills really work?” She was already imagining that scene, staying away from the window, putting away all sharp objects in the room, choosing a time when traffic wasn’t so busy and an ambulance could arrive quickly……

Fang Yongnian lowered his head.

He pressed Lu Yixin’s fuzzy head back into his chest, then leaned against the back of the sofa, relaxing the taut straightness of his back.

“I’ll accompany you, I’ll say it.” These six words he said quickly, his voice very hoarse.

For childbirth, he would always be there.

As for her parents’ hurdle, he had come for it.

He had said to her the most greedy words he could bring himself to say in this life, so he would spend a lifetime slowly repaying them.

Lu Yixin grabbed Fang Yongnian’s shirt with both hands and nodded.

“You finally stopped being pretentious!” she whispered, her little paws again trying to reach for Fang Yongnian’s head to pat it.

“Try being disrespectful again, will you?” Fang Yongnian pulled her paws down, ominous.

Lu Yixin wrinkled her nose in his arms, her eyes red.

This was the first time Fang Yongnian had hugged her back without reservation. She had finally pushed him out of his comfort zone, and at last, he admitted—he was hers.

She had never been wrong.

Her liking, the shape of love she had slowly felt out, had always been right.

Proudly, she burrowed in Fang Yongnian’s arms and let out a satisfied sigh.

“I still have that bowl of shrimp and eel frozen at home,” she said happily, the corners of her lips curving up. “You’re finished this time.”

Serves you right for being so heartless!

“I cried so many times!” She thought about it and began to feel angry.

“You told me you wouldn’t play childish games like blocking people on WeChat, and then you turned around and blocked me.” She began counting one by one on her fingers.

“You said my college application had nothing to do with you, that you didn’t want to and wouldn’t take responsibility.”

“You said I was still young, and if you were with me, you’d be arrested by the police.”

“I said goodnight to you for a whole year, a whole year! Three hundred and sixty-five days! And you didn’t reply with a single word!”

The more she spoke, the more worked up she became, realizing that the bad things Fang Yongnian had done to her couldn’t even be counted on one hand.

“Do you remember what you gave me the day I got into college?”

“Dingsheng Cake!”

“Damn it, you even wrapped it in red paper with a gold string and tied a bow. I swear, when you threw that thing at me, you must’ve seen my mouth twitch!”

“What does ‘damn it’ mean?” Fang Yongnian interrupted.

“It means mom’s egg.” Lu Yixin made it up nonsense.

“……” Fang Yongnian ignored her nonsense. “That box of Dingsheng Cake cost over three hundred, and I spent fifty just on the wrapping.”

Lu Yixin: “……”

He actually had the nerve to say that…

“What else did you think I could give you?” he said helplessly.

In that situation, he shouldn’t have even given her Dingsheng Cake. At the time, he was only qualified to give her a like on her Moments post.

To buy that box of Dingsheng Cake, he had stayed in the pharmacy for a full six hours.

His two months’ dividend was only four thousand yuan…

He calculated it eight times.

“Fang Yongnian,” Lu Yixin’s voice softened, “when you left that day, you didn’t even tie your shoelaces.”

He had fled in panic.

“I cried for a long time, sobbed so hard that the fat cat got scared.” Later, even the cat started crying with her.

“I know.” Fang Yongnian rubbed her head. “I was outside the door.”

He didn’t leave. He had been standing outside the door the whole time.

When he heard her crying, the only thought in his mind was—this time, it was really over.

“You… you’re a pervert!” Lu Yixin was furious.

She had been crying like that, and he still had the heart to run away.

“Mm.” Fang Yongnian admitted it quickly, as he always did.

Lu Yixin choked a little. Her heart softened. She could never truly make Fang Yongnian suffer a “wife-chasing crematorium” ending. After blurting everything out just now, she realized she had never really blamed him.

The bitterness and the hurt had always gone both ways.

She could still throw a tantrum, act spoiled, and cry her heart out, but Fang Yongnian could only stand outside the door with his shoelaces undone.

In the eyes of the world, he didn’t even have the right to nod.

But he still nodded.

So that day, when he said he was panicking—he truly was.

“I hate those old ladies,” she muttered after thinking for a while, finding a random target to vent her anger on.

Fang Yongnian was amused by her train of thought and let out a soft laugh, the corners of his lips lifting.

Lu Yixin squinted her eyes and looked at the faint smile lines at the corner of his eyes, then lifted her own lips too.

She hugged him again.

And let out a satisfied sigh.

“Not angry anymore?” Fang Yongnian was starting to feel distressed for her.

He had bullied her for so long. Though every one of those things had its reason, and from his standpoint he truly had no other choice, he was very clear about how deeply he had hurt her.

He had struck her down again and again, dimming her once radiant face, watching her shoulders droop little by little.

Yet she just listed those things one by one and then felt satisfied.

“I’m not angry today.” The girl had already planned her way out, smugly, “But every time we argue from now on, I’ll bring this up and count it all over again!”

“We won’t argue.” Fang Yongnian said firmly.

He was much older than her. Quarreling again, what would that even be worth.

Lu Yixin gave him a sideways glance.

“Just a few minutes ago,” she reminded him, “you told me to ‘try being disrespectful again.’”

So gloomy, as if he still had the right to hit her.

Fang Yongnian: “……”

He pressed the sideways-looking Lu Yixin back down—out of sight, out of mind.

Then, in his usual slow tone, he said, “Being disrespectful won’t do.”

Lu Yixin: “…Pervert.”

“Mm.” The corners of Fang Yongnian’s lips lifted again, and he naturally patted her head.

୨୧ ⏔⏔⏔⏔♡⏔⏔⏔⏔ ୨୧ 

A little after nine in the evening.

Fang Yongnian sat on the sofa, holding his little girl in his arms.

He was thinking—he had originally just wanted to take Lu Yixin, who had just finished military training, out for a nice meal. Yet that night, they only ate a simple bowl of plain noodles. Lu Yixin drank a few sips of soup and picked at two strands of noodles.

How did they end up in each other’s arms?

Fang Yongnian frowned.

That girl, Lu Yixin—how had she made him say something so shameless…

He had only asked her if she had thought it through…

And then, they suddenly advanced by leaps and bounds…

Between a man and a woman, alone together—it really was dangerous.

The academic-type Fang Yongnian, because tonight’s progress had been too fast, had his mind wandering off somewhere far away.

Meanwhile, the action-oriented Lu Yixin… was a bit hyperactive.

She felt very happy. Hugging Fang Yongnian felt very comfortable. After holding onto that feeling for a few minutes, she started getting restless.

The first thing to catch her attention was the button on Fang Yongnian’s shirt.

The most ordinary kind of shirt button—round, with four little holes for threading. She reached out and started picking at it. After a few tugs, the shirt that had been neatly in place bulged slightly. Through the small gap, she could see… Fang Yongnian’s skin.

Lu Yixin squinted, picking at it more seriously.

It was also the first time she realized that if you really worked at it, shirt buttons could be pried off—and when they came off, there would be a faint little sound.

With a pop.

The fat cat, who had been staring at that button, made a move completely at odds with its plump body—it raised a paw midair and smacked at the button with its paw pad.

The small button flew far away, hit the edge of the window with a thud, bounced once, and then happily jumped out through the crack in the window.

Gone without a trace.

Fat cat: “……”

Lu Yixin: “……”

Fang Yongnian, who had spaced out for just a few minutes and nearly got his shirt taken off: “……”

“…What’s this cat’s name?” Lu Yixin laughed dryly as she tried to change the topic, using her hand to pull together Fang Yongnian’s now buttonless shirt and covering it with her palm.

“…You sure ask early.” Fang Yongnian looked at her, speechless at her attempt to use her hand as a replacement button, and answered her question. “Just called Fat Cat. Never gave it a name.”

The cat was already over six years old. Giving it a new name now would feel like changing its surname, which felt strange, so he had just kept calling it Fat Cat—it rolled off the tongue easily.

And every time he called out “Fat Cat,” it would glare at him, which he found rather amusing.

Lu Yixin felt guilty for half a second. Her hand was pressed against Fang Yongnian’s chest; the fabric wasn’t thick, and after a while, the presence of the fabric slowly faded away.

Lu Yixin’s face turned red again, completely out of her control.

“I’ve actually liked you for a long time,” Lu Yixin said, both frustrated and confused. “But why do I still blush now?”

What a perfect chance to take advantage, and yet—

Fang Yongnian expressionlessly removed her hand.

“It’s late. Go back and sleep.” He began to send her off.

His seriousness lasted no more than three seconds. Whatever trace of emotion he’d felt earlier had been completely smothered by her palm.

“I have to get up early tomorrow.” He stood up. “Your dad’s coming back to the country tomorrow.”

“He went abroad?” Lu Yixin widened her eyes. “I thought he was just on a business trip.”

Fang Yongnian: “……”

“Then… goodnight.” Not really knowing her own father’s whereabouts, Lu Yixin waved at Fang Yongnian.

Reluctant to leave, yet not wanting to disturb his rest.

“Oh, right!” Halfway to the door, she turned around—like she always did before leaving—and nearly bumped into Fang Yongnian, who was about to walk her out. “Why does the smell of smoke on you seem so much lighter?”

She sniffed again.

It really was much lighter. Before, even through eight hundred meters of rose-colored filters, she could still clearly smell the tobacco scent on him.

Now, she had to get very close to catch even a faint trace.

“Quit.” Fang Yongnian didn’t intend to elaborate. He opened the door and patted her head. “Go sleep.”

“Goodnight.” He closed the door before she could ask anything more.

He had quit smoking.

From the day he promised Lu Yixin that he would wait for her, he quit.

The reason was unclear.

He didn’t want to think too deeply, nor give Lu Yixin the chance to.

Tonight, this girl had already dug too much out of him. He was afraid she’d get too full of herself.

But right after he closed the door, Lu Yixin started knocking on it noisily—bang bang bang, in the middle of the night.

Fang Yongnian opened the door, keeping a straight face.

“Reward!” She held out a handful of colorful mint candies, smiling like a flower.

Fang Yongnian: “……”

“You’re so good!” Lu Yixin placed the whole handful into his hand, then stood on tiptoe and patted his head twice.

Two cheeky pats—then, afraid he’d hit her, she turned and ran off, slamming the door behind her with the same loud bang bang bang.

Only Fang Yongnian remained standing there, touching the spot where she had patted his head. He rubbed his forehead and let out a quiet laugh.

That girl…

Author’s note:

The guiding figures in Lu Yixin’s growth are Fang Yongnian and Liu Miqing, her best friend is Zheng Ranran, and she inherited her father’s simple and straightforward personality—so she’s actually quite transparent and open-minded.