This meal was eaten with both guests and hosts feeling awkward.

Yu Hanfeng did not bring up that matter again, but with her temperament of feeling uneasy when not working, by the time fruits were served after the meal, she could no longer sit still and had already run across the street with Fang Yongnian and Lu Boyuan to check and review documents, leaving only Lu Yixin and Liu Miqing at home to clean up the mess.

Lu Boyuan was very excited about discovering that Fang Yongnian shared exactly the same pharmaceutical views as he did, and that excitement infected his wife Liu Miqing as well.

“Your dad is really unreliable. I actually thought your Uncle Fang and Yu Hanfeng had gotten together.” Liu Miqing shook her head as she washed the dishes. “Those two have such different personalities, if they could be together, that’d really be strange.”

Lu Yixin stood beside her wiping dishes, nodding repeatedly like pounding garlic.

“But your Uncle Fang’s condition has been pretty good lately. His complexion looks much better.” Liu Miqing genuinely cared about Fang Yongnian, and seeing his face looking healthier truly made her happy.

“He quit smoking.” Lu Yixin took the chance to add to Fang Yongnian’s good impression.

“Really!” Liu Miqing was genuinely surprised this time. “His addiction is even worse than your dad’s.”

After the car accident, Fang Yongnian had practically used cigarettes as painkillers. For him to quit was remarkable.

“Is he seeing someone?” Liu Miqing reacted quickly.

Lu Yixin’s hand slipped as she wiped the dish: “……”

“No, that doesn’t seem right.” Liu Miqing asked and answered herself. “Their company is this busy, if he were dating someone, that would be strange. I heard your dad say there isn’t a single single woman in their company, even the front desk is male.”

Lu Yixin murmured vaguely.

She had seen the guy at the front desk before. Broad-shouldered, thick-waisted, could carry four medical supply boxes with one hand.

“Speaking of which…” Liu Miqing turned her attention to her daughter. “How’s college?”

“It’s fine.” Lu Yixin kept wiping the dishes. “The major courses are already too much, and every Wednesday I still have to go to the club to watch movies.”

And they were all art films. With her level of comprehension, being made to watch art films—she really couldn’t see any so-called struggle of the characters in those half-hour-long shots. She only felt the urge to pee.

Liu Miqing laughed and glanced at her daughter. “No boy you’ve taken a liking to?”

Lu Yixin’s hand almost threw the dish out.

“No…” she denied first, then hesitated. “What if I do?”

“If you do, then date him.” Liu Miqing smiled. “You’re almost twenty, it’s about time. You can’t just stay home and become an old maid.”

Lu Yixin held the dish, hesitated once, then again.

“What kind do you like?” Those three words—“boy you like”—really didn’t suit Fang Yongnian, so she automatically filtered them out.

“As long as he’s sincere and treats you well.” Liu Miqing finished washing the dishes, wiped her hands clean, and found her daughter’s question rather interesting. “Do you really have someone you like?”

Otherwise, why would she suddenly be this shy?

“No…” Lu Yixin continued to deny it.

Sincere, treats her well—Fang Yongnian fit that perfectly.

But she didn’t dare say it…

They were in the kitchen right now, and there were kitchen knives, scissors, and a boning knife…

“Then what about other things?” Lu Yixin asked cautiously. “Like occupation, age… things like that.”

Liu Miqing frowned slightly. “You like someone who’s already working? Wouldn’t that be too old?”

Lu Yixin: “……”

“I don’t really have much of an opinion about age differences. Your dad and I are only two years apart, but most of the time it feels like I’m taking care of a child—I still have to coax him. So sometimes I wonder, maybe someone older would know how to care for others better.” As Liu Miqing spoke, she observed Lu Yixin’s expression. “I’m just a bit worried that if he’s already working, his environment might not be too simple.”

Lu Yixin was a simple child. Her major was one where she could be of help to them, so Liu Miqing had always thought she might be lucky enough to let her daughter grow up, marry, and have children safely under their protection.

If she really liked someone from society, she truly couldn’t feel at ease.

“I was just asking casually.” Lu Yixin felt uneasy being stared at. “Where would I even meet someone from society?”

Other than Fang Yongnian.

But Fang Yongnian didn’t count as “someone from society.” Fang Yongnian was just Fang Yongnian.

“When you’re looking for a boyfriend, character comes first.” Liu Miqing looked at her daughter’s suddenly flushed face and sighed. “Everything else is secondary.”

“If you really like someone, bring him over for us to meet as soon as possible. We’ve been through a lot in life, it’s good for us to give you some advice.”

Liu Miqing didn’t press her daughter any further.

After all, Lu Yixin was already in college; there were many things she had to slowly learn to let go of.

Still, she thought she should find some time to ask Lu Boyuan or Fang Yongnian.

The only people Lu Yixin could have contact with who were already working would be those from the pharmaceutical company.

If it were someone in pharmaceuticals, that would actually be fine…

If he were a researcher, even better…

Liu Miqing thought far ahead on her own, leaving behind Lu Yixin, who was frightened into a cold sweat.

She still didn’t dare…

She thought she could be as fearless as she once was when she liked Fang Yongnian, could say it out loud without hesitation—but when the words reached her lips, she just couldn’t say them.

If she said it, what would her parents do to Fang Yongnian?

If she said it, and her parents refused to let them be together, what would she do then?

She was beginning to understand more and more clearly the struggle Fang Yongnian once had.

He truly wasn’t being pretentious; he had only realized these obstacles earlier than she did. Such a proud person—yet in this matter, he had no choice but to bow his head, to be judged.

Love and marriage in this world had rules.

Just as he had told her back then.

If he wanted to experience it, he had to bow to those rules.

Lu Yixin felt a little sad. She wasn’t as brave as she imagined herself to be. When it truly came to being judged, she was actually even more afraid than Fang Yongnian.

She placed the wiped dishes one by one onto the rack, lips pressed together, heart aching faintly.

She missed him…

Even if he only lived right across from her…

୨୧ ⏔⏔⏔⏔♡⏔⏔⏔⏔ ୨୧

After seeing Yu Hanfeng off, Lu Boyuan and Liu Miqing planned to carry out their original plan of dragging Lu Yixin to the movies.

But Lu Yixin righteously and firmly refused.

“You two are so immature. Can’t you see how much homework I still have left? Finals are coming up!” She slapped the books on the table with a series of loud pah pah pah.

Lu Boyuan, scolded into guilt by his daughter, took his wife—whom he hadn’t seen for over a month—to the cinema for some time alone, leaving behind Lu Yixin clutching her notebook, smacking her lips at the sight of the password lock on Fang Yongnian’s door across the hall.

His password was too easy to remember. Too tempting.

She flipped open the cover of the keypad, rubbed her fingers together, but before she could even press the first four digits, the door opened.

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing your homework?” Fang Yongnian stood inside the doorway, door half open, smiling at her.

She had shouted loud enough for the entire floor to hear, though he was the only one living on that floor.

Lu Yixin tilted her head, hugging her notebook.

It hadn’t even been ten minutes since Yu Hanfeng left. She and Fang Yongnian had only been apart for ten minutes. He was still wearing the same clothes from work, he looked exactly the same. But why did she miss him so much already?

“Fang Niannian.” She’d fallen in love with this name; the more she called it, the stickier and softer it sounded. “You’re the real seductress here.”

She was the peddler who had to invite a Taoist priest to ward herself because she was afraid of her own obsession.

That’s why she was so bewitched by him, that seeing him made her want to throw herself at him.

Fang Yongnian froze for a moment, then coughed lightly.

“Come in.” He realized he’d just been teased.

Utterly unreasonable.

She’d been teasing him all night.

So unruly.

After Lu Yixin entered the room, she stood on tiptoe and stared at his ears.

“What now?” He really wanted to swat her onto the wall like a fly. Not out of annoyance, but because even he could feel that the tips of his ears were turning red again.

Damn it.

“Why is it only your ears that turn red?” Lu Yixin’s voice was right next to his ear. Because she was standing on tiptoe while hugging her notebook, she was wobbling unsteadily.

Fang Yongnian ignored the unanswerable question and wanted to take a step back so she could stand properly.

But he stepped too far back. Lu Yixin, who had been too focused on observing his ears, leaned forward with him and fell straight into his arms. Her heavy notebook hit his chin, making him let out a muffled groan.

Amid the pile of notebooks, Lu Yixin lifted her head and saw that Fang Yongnian’s chin had turned red.

Her reaction was completely instinctive. Both of her hands were full with notebooks, her body was leaning against him with no point of support, and Fang Yongnian was clearly in pain from the hit.

So she stared at that red spot, leaned forward instinctively, and blew a puff of air on it.

Her grandmother had taught her that if you blow on a wound, it won’t hurt anymore.

Fang Yongnian lowered his head in disbelief.

Lu Yixin still had her cheeks puffed out mid-blow when she saw him lower his head—so, quite naturally, she rose on tiptoe and kissed it.

Her grandmother had taught her that if you blow and kiss the wound, it won’t hurt anymore.

Smack.

The sound was loud—so loud that it echoed in the room.

Fang Yongnian, who had been teased the entire evening: “…………”

Lu Yixin, who realized what she had just done but didn’t regret it one bit: “…………”

“Drop the notebook.” Fang Yongnian had been pushed against the shoe cabinet by the entryway. He didn’t move, and the hand around her waist meant to keep her from falling flat on her face didn’t move either.

His voice sounded perfectly calm, without a ripple.

Lu Yixin obediently dropped the notebook in her hands. Her skin was already thick; this sort of thing wasn’t the first time she’d done it. Causing trouble in front of Fang Yongnian was practically a daily occurrence.

She was ready to be scolded.

After all, tonight she had held hands under the table, teased him with her words, and even taken advantage of him.

Strictly speaking, she thought she’d earned quite a lot today.

At least, when she and Zheng Ranran talked about their dating experiences, her short essay could go from one hundred words to two hundred.

Her thoughts were a jumble, wandering off to all sorts of nonsense.

She deliberately ignored the feeling of her lips brushing against Fang Yongnian’s chin just now.

Because his stubble had been prickly.

Because of that prickliness, her lips felt a little numb.

“Close your eyes.” Fang Yongnian’s voice was hoarse.

Lu Yixin blinked, then closed her eyes in confusion.

She thought, This is a kissing posture.

Was Fang Yongnian going to hit her while using a kissing posture?

How curious…

Her mind was full of strange thoughts, so when Fang Yongnian’s breath slowly drew near, she squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as she could.

Did this count as domestic violence?

She was still thinking that when Fang Yongnian’s lips touched hers.

After all, he really had hit her before—with a ruler, pa pa pa, smacking the backs of her calves.

Then her whole body went stiff. She was so shocked that she even opened her eyes again.

Fang Yongnian’s eyes were closed. His eyelashes were long—so long they brushed against her cheek and made it itch.

His lips were soft—very, very soft. He held his breath as they touched hers, completely different from the feel of his chin.

Lu Yixin let out a muffled “mm” sound, her hands instinctively balling into fists.

Fang Yongnian didn’t deepen the kiss.

Just like the kiss on her forehead before, it was only a light, fleeting touch. The only difference was that this time, he lingered for a single second.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw Lu Yixin staring wide-eyed at him.

“Pick up your notebook.” His ears were red as he flicked her forehead with a finger. “Whichever question you don’t understand, I’ll teach you.”

Lu Yixin was still standing frozen by the entryway.

She waited until Fang Yongnian walked into the living room before whispering in a mosquito-like voice, “That was… kinda… awesome…”