“Then we’re in a relationship now, right?” After opening her linear algebra book, Lu Yixin belatedly felt she needed to confirm it.

Fang Yongnian: “…Otherwise?”

Lu Yixin bit her pen. “Before, it was just me announcing we were dating.”

Fang Yongnian put down the book in his hand and frowned. “Announcing to who?”

“…Zheng Ranran and me.” Lu Yixin shifted in her seat.

She had to keep talking, just keep talking nonstop, or she would keep replaying that scene in her head. Fang Yongnian kissed her! On the mouth!!

“Then I…” She opened her mouth and hesitated for a moment. “I don’t have to go and date someone else anymore, right.”

Fang Yongnian: “…”

“You were the one who said that…” Lu Yixin, unable to stop talking, started settling accounts after the fact. “I was so dumbfounded when I heard it back then. Who even makes such a perverted demand.”

Fang Yongnian took off his glasses.

He was thinking, was Lu Yixin’s habit of spouting nonsense whenever she got nervous something he’d spoiled her into?

He and Lu Yixin weren’t blood-related. When he helped Lu Boyuan take care of her, every time she caused trouble, although he really wanted to hit her, it was inappropriate after all.

So he could only stare at her, trying to make her realize by herself what she had done wrong.

And under that kind of pressure, the girl would start talking nonstop.

Fang Yongnian sighed. Fine, it really was him who spoiled her into it.

He rubbed his brow, letting Lu Yixin keep chattering, waiting for her nervousness to pass, waiting for her to return to normal.

When she gradually quieted down, he handed her a cup of honey water he had made.

“When should we tell our parents about us?” Earlier, he had been checking the university assignments she had done before. The two of them were sitting very close, shoulder to shoulder, leg against leg.

Lu Yixin held the cup, still floating: “Before we get married?”

Cooked rice becomes cooked rice, then no one would dare to object!

Fang Yongnian: “…”

He tapped Lu Yixin’s forehead with the pen in his hand, his face full of helplessness.

Lu Yixin took a sip of the honey water. It was clear and sweet. She licked her lips; they were still tingling, like they had been electrified.

She tilted her head and looked at Fang Yongnian’s face. His brows were slightly furrowed, the corners of his lips lifted. When he held a pen, he habitually spun it between his fingers. When he saw her assignments, he habitually took them to check.

They were in love.

But sometimes she doubted their relationship.

Too intimate, too natural—it almost felt like family.

“I almost told my mom today.” She took another sip of honey water and rested her head on Fang Yongnian’s shoulder.

Maybe she really did have a touch-hunger disorder.

She really wanted to just cling to him like this, and never let go.

“Mm?” Fang Yongnian moved slightly. This time, though, he didn’t act reserved; he simply reached out and pulled Lu Yixin into his arms. “And then?”

“Then I couldn’t say it.” Lu Yixin spoke honestly. Buried in Fang Yongnian’s embrace, she sounded a little defeated. “So before, it really was just me being recklessly brave.”

Recklessly brave enough to say she wanted to protect him, yet she couldn’t even bring herself to say it in front of her own mother.

“If you can’t say it, then don’t. It’s better if I do.” Fang Yongnian’s tone was too gentle, there wasn’t a trace of reproach in it.

Lu Yixin lifted her head. From her angle, she could only see Fang Yongnian’s Adam’s apple. She poked it with her finger, and heard Fang Yongnian click his tongue before grabbing her hand, half-smiling. “Don’t let your hands and feet wander.”

Don’t be like last time—when she wasn’t paying attention and ended up unbuttoning his shirt.

“You’re not mad that I couldn’t say it?” she asked foolishly.

When she’d first chased after him, no matter how he refused, she hadn’t cared. She thought that kind of courage, that kind of affection, was enough to carry her through everything that followed. But this was only the first step and she had already lost her nerve.

“I can’t even say it myself, let alone you.” Fang Yongnian gave a bitter smile and rubbed her hair.

He had actually always wanted to say it, because the pace between him and Lu Yixin had been getting a bit out of control.

Originally, he had planned that during Lu Yixin’s four years at university, they could slowly, gradually learn how to get along with each other.

Lu Yixin was still too young, while he had already been in society for years. He thought there must be many things between them that would need time to adjust.

Maybe, during that period, Lu Yixin would lose patience and break up.

Or maybe, if they were lucky, after all the adjustment their feelings would still remain—and then, when they informed both sides of the family, it would all fall into place naturally.

Because by then, they would already be sure of each other. So even if things got chaotic, they would have the confidence to handle it.

But now, Lu Yixin’s first semester of freshman year hadn’t even ended, and when she just blurted out the words “before we get married,” he realized—he didn’t actually reject the idea.

They hadn’t even gone through the process of adjusting yet, but he already felt—it was enough.

Maybe they couldn’t be shaken apart. Maybe “adjusting” was, for them, just a small matter.

He didn’t even know where that confidence came from, only that he inexplicably felt—the girl in his arms was his.

So he kissed her.

At first, the touch had definitely been pure male instinct. Being teased for an entire night by the woman he liked, saying there wasn’t a spark would be a lie.

But once they touched, it only made him more certain.

Unlike that afternoon of thunder and lightning—he would remember that feeling for a lifetime—the phantom limb pain so sharp it numbed, the panic so strong he thought he might really be a beast.

Their relationship had progressed surprisingly smoothly.

So, it was time to speak up.

Whether or not it was hard to say.

“Let’s find a time to tell them. We’ll deal with your parents first, then pick a holiday for you to come home with me.” He hadn’t been back to his hometown in a long while. Bringing Lu Yixin back this time, his parents should be happy, right?

Maybe they wouldn’t cry again, wouldn’t just stare at him with reddened eyes.

Lu Yixin hesitantly looked up.

She knew Fang Yongnian well. Before, when he was still uncertain about their relationship, every time he looked at her, his expression always said, are you really sure about this? But now that his hesitation was gone, he would definitely start making plans.

He was unbearably assertive, so everyone around him had long gotten used to doing whatever he said.

He had already brought up meeting the parents three times.

He wouldn’t bring it up a fourth time, because the fourth time would be when her dad beat him up single-handedly.

Lu Yixin swallowed hard.

“Um…” Based on how she usually got along with Fang Yongnian, she really didn’t have the courage to say what came next.

But they had kissed!

“You actually don’t have to be so responsible…” She mustered her courage, stammering a little as she spoke.

Fang Yongnian’s face was full of question marks.

“You want to tell my parents about this now because you think that if you don’t, then when you… blah blah blah with me, it means you’re being irresponsible, right?” Lu Yixin threw all her reckless bravery into that sentence. “Actually, you don’t have to be that responsible…”

Fang Yongnian: “…”

Lu Yixin’s magical, treasure-chest-like vocabulary.

“I’m already an adult. You can get married at twenty. I can totally take full responsibility for myself…” She blinked her eyes, and the more she spoke, the further she drifted from sense.

“…I’ll give you one minute to reorganize your words.” Fang Yongnian finally couldn’t help interrupting her.

The more she talked, the worse it got.

If she kept going, he might really not be able to stop himself from giving her a spanking.

The mood was too good today, he couldn’t bear to.

“I just mean you don’t have to keep worrying about this. Even if we don’t tell our parents, that’s fine too.” Under pressure, the timid little Lu Yixin once again performed beyond expectation; the long speech she had prepared shrank instantly into one sentence.

He didn’t have to shoulder the burden of “responsibility,” didn’t have to bow his head to convention for her, didn’t have to go through unnecessary proofs just to prove that they could be together.

They were already together.

Every single day, she was blissfully happy. Every single day, she praised herself for having the courage to charge forward back then and not give up.

So, she didn’t want him to make things hard on himself.

Fang Yongnian frowned.

By his understanding, meeting the parents while dating should be a good thing. Once it was acknowledged by both families, the relationship could become proper and aboveboard.

He had brought it up several times, but each time, Lu Yixin had brushed it off with some strange excuse. Today, when he brought it up seriously, this girl started spouting nonsense just to reject him.

“Why?” He still hadn’t reached the level of enlightenment required to fully understand Lu Yixin’s thought process, so he could only ask.

“Just… don’t want to.” Lu Yixin pouted and lowered her head, her restless fingers starting to play with the buttons on Fang Yongnian’s shirt.

Fang Yongnian caught her hand. He didn’t speak, nor did he move otherwise.

His hands, like the rest of him, were slender, firm, and full of strength. His palm pressed against the back of her hand, and her skin rose in a fine layer of goosebumps.

She liked him too much—so much that even the smallest touch from him could make her heart race and linger in that feeling for a long time.

“My dad has a bad temper…” Lu Yixin still kept her head down. “If he finds out, he’ll definitely say some unpleasant things.”

“Mm?” Fang Yongnian responded faintly.

“I don’t want… him to say those things.” She didn’t want her father to hurl harsh words at Fang Yongnian.

“And… I have a lot of relatives. Many relatives who don’t know you at all…” Once things were made public, the things they said behind their backs might be even worse.

She had heard it too many times already—in the pharmacy, in his company.

She didn’t want those same words to come from her own family’s mouths.

“You’ll get very tired,” she said softly, still not raising her head.

“So?” Fang Yongnian’s brows were still furrowed. “We just won’t say anything?”

“Because it’s tiring, because you’re afraid of unpleasant gossip, we’ll just keep sneaking around like this?” Since he couldn’t grasp what exactly Lu Yixin was conflicted about, his voice grew slower and slower.

If it slowed down any further, it meant he was angry.

Lu Yixin’s hand fidgeted uneasily in his palm, and Fang Yongnian tightened his grip again, pressing both of her hands down at her sides.

“When you ignored everything and chased after me, did I ever tell you about these things?” He was indeed angry now, speaking each word distinctly.

“Even after we got together, I’ve reminded you many times.” His tone was slow, his hand tightening with every word. “And now you’re telling me, you’re afraid?”

“Because of that fear, you don’t even want to be open about us?” He started ending every sentence with a question mark.

His tone hadn’t changed, nor had his expression, but his eyes were gradually turning cold.

Lu Yixin quietly lifted her head to look at him.

There had been only a few times when Fang Yongnian had truly lost his temper with her: when her grandmother passed away and she accidentally ruined his hard drive, erasing all his painstaking work; when she had hidden in his car trunk and he’d been forced to take her into a short-stay hotel room; and now—this time.

He pressed his lips together, looking at her, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

“I’m not…” She told herself not to cry, but even as she reminded herself, tears began to fall. “I didn’t…”

She was too scared, so what came next was purely instinct. She instinctively wrapped her arms around Fang Yongnian, clinging to him as if she wanted to melt into his body.

“What are you trying to pull now?” Fang Yongnian, burning with anger, tried to pry her off.

He was truly furious.

She was the one who had chased him. She was the one who had shattered his calm and made him so helpless. And now that he thought everything had finally settled, she suddenly said she was afraid.

Even if she was fourteen years younger than him.

Even if he had spoiled her since she was a child, she still couldn’t do this.

“Get off me!” When he couldn’t pull her away, he shouted with a dark expression.

Finally, Lu Yixin broke down and burst into tears with a wail.

“It’s not that I don’t want to be open about us!” she sobbed and hiccupped as she cried and shouted, “I wish so badly I could go to your company openly to look for you, I wish so badly I could tell my mom out loud my boyfriend is you!”

“But they call you a unicorn!” she cried so hard she could barely breathe between words.

But Fang Yongnian didn’t pat her back, nor did he tell her to stop crying.

He just kept looking at her expressionlessly, his eyes dark and unreadable.

“I can’t argue with them. You’re the one who taught me—when you’re at a disadvantage, you admit it. If you refuse to, it only makes you look more pathetic.” Her tears fell even harder because of Fang Yongnian’s indifference. “But…”

She cried and gasped, taking deep breaths at the empty air, only to choke halfway because she couldn’t stop sobbing.

Tears and snot smeared together messily on her face.

“But you’ve only just gotten used to how people look at you, and now because of me, there’ll be even more people!” She tried to wipe her face with her sleeve, but Fang Yongnian stopped her halfway.

“If I don’t wipe, it’ll drip down!” She was crying so hard she could barely see Fang Yongnian’s face anymore.

“Then let it drip.” Fang Yongnian held both of Lu Yixin’s hands tightly.

It was winter—if she wiped with that sweater, it would be ruined. How would he explain that to Liu Miqing later?

Lu Yixin froze for a moment, her mouth half open, both hands trapped.

Her emotions loosened a little.

“You’ll get really tired, and then…” Her eyelids were swollen, her mouth trembling. “You’ll stop wanting me…”

At last, she said it out loud.

“You’re already tired enough, so you’ll stop wanting me.” She began repeating that one crucial, terrifying line.

“When I used to chase you, I didn’t even know how many years it would take before I could actually catch you, so I never thought about the possibility of you not wanting me.”

Back then, that wasn’t even part of the problem.

“But now you’ve kissed me…”

“What if they say something really awful, and you get angry, and you stop wanting me?”

Fang Yongnian: “…”

“I need to wipe my face…” Lu Yixin, pitifully, tried to pull her hands free.

She had said everything she needed to say, now the urgent matter was wiping her face.

With how she looked right now, how could Fang Yongnian possibly still want her?