"Li Tangnian."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nian was briefly taken aback.

"Okay."

After hanging up the phone, he couldn’t help but fall into deep thought. Why did it feel like, hmm... was there something unsaid in Qingqing’s words?

Wanting to have a child?

That couldn’t be it.

He pondered repeatedly, thinking it should be about that niece’s family. Closer to the two sisters, so she offered her blessings.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open.

"Aren’t you going to take a shower?" Qianqian tilted her head, having just finished her shower, her hair was still dripping wet.

Her skin was fair and soft as satin.

"I’ll go in a bit, what’s up?" Jiang Nian asked tentatively, "Are you free today?"

It’s not every time she comes to the apartment that they’re up to something.

"I don’t know." Qianqian said and turned around to leave, "Anyway, I’m going to dry my hair."

"Oh, okay." Jiang Nian nodded.

He took his clothes and headed to the bathroom, running into Song Xiyun. Seeing she was also about to shower, he thought there might be a chance.

"You go first," he said.

"Okay." Song Xiyun didn’t refuse. She indeed needed to shower quickly and dry her hair to build up some mental fortitude.

This wasn’t easy for her.

To say it was hidden, might not be true. Living under the same roof, it was hard to believe that Qianqian knew nothing.

In previous times, after expressing feelings.

Half pushing, half pulling, with the three of them. They maintained a tacit understanding, keeping that thin window paper intact.

A really thin window paper.

Even so, for the three of them. Engaging in this still brought different levels of psychological pressure.

Jiang Nian uh... felt a bit too.

After a while, post-shower. The night was already deep when he turned off the light and entered Qianqian’s room, holding his breath.

He could only see a dark silhouette. Until his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could make out the girl’s face under the moonlight.

Unexpectedly, a ridiculous thought popped into his head. In the future, would there be a game where you guess who’s who in the dark?

Such things are also recorded in [.....].

He shook his head, shaking off the thoughts. Moving closer, he saw things a bit clearer.

"Why are your legs so colorless?"

"Idiot!" Qianqian was both angry and embarrassed, suppressing her voice, "Touch them yourself, then you’ll know."

"Turned color?"

Jiang Nian said this, but his heart immediately understood. Reaching out, he thought to himself that it was indeed a speed boost item.

Playful yet inexperienced.

Over time, Qianqian’s body couldn’t take it anymore and, unsurprisingly, she fell apart once more.

Jiang Nian: "...."

Isn’t this just asking for trouble?

He felt like laughing, yet was a bit helpless. He carried Qianqian out, who was already half asleep.

She slightly opened her eyes, realizing something again.

"Clothes... clothes."

"It’s fine." Jiang Nian couldn’t be bothered to go back and fix it, "That might get dirty, clean up and then go back."

Qianqian: "...No."

Her "no" meant "yes."

After washing up, Jiang Nian carried her back, laying her on the bed and carefully tucking her in with a thin blanket.

Actually, the tricky part wasn’t the cleaning up, but fixing the hair.

However, once skilled, it wasn’t too bad. It only took a bit of time, and now it’s manageable to quickly tidy it up.

Jiang Nian left, then entered another room.

After a long while, Song Xiyun sat up from the bed. Without turning on the room lights, she walked to the dressing table.

Click, she turned on the vanity mirror light.

Using a corner of the light, she tidied her hair. Then, she glanced back at Jiang Nian, who was leisurely approaching.

She was somewhat speechless but didn’t want to urge him.

"Wash up."

"Okay."

Jiang Nian went ahead because Song Xiyun would fret. It was her ’Sage’ time, after which she would get up.

After finishing, he didn’t immediately leave.

After all, leaving right away gives off a bad impression. As if he was there just for that and not for the person herself. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Why aren’t you going back to your room?"

"Keeping you company."

Hearing this, Song Xiyun pursed her lips. She didn’t say much, just turned to the bed and sat at the edge.

"How did you feel... just now?"

"Pretty good." Jiang Nian glanced at her and then asked, "Aren’t you tired now?"

"Can’t do it." Song Xiyun was nervous, shaking her hands incessantly.

Jiang Nian: "..."

"You misunderstood."

"Oh." Xiao Song was a bit embarrassed, tilting her head slightly, avoiding Jiang Nian’s gaze.

Jiang Nian chuckled, the more he got to know her, the more he realized that Xiao Song was indeed considerate towards others.

She’s not really introverted, maybe just repressing her emotions.

Being with her was like a journey of exploration. Always unveiling new, different reactions.

The two chatted for a while, and after some time, Song Xiyun started feeling sleepy.

"You should rest now."

"Alright." Jiang Nian stood up and hugged her, "Some things will gradually get better."

"Yeah."

.....

A few days later, Friday afternoon.

Jiang Nian was about to fly to Yuhang again when he suddenly thought of Yu Zhiyi. He had flaked on her eight times already, he couldn’t do it the ninth time.

So, he sent her a message.

"Are you free this week?"

Not long after, she replied in seconds.

"Yes." Yu Zhiyi added with a giggling emoji, "I want to see if you can flake on me for the ninth time!"

Jiang Nian: "...."

That was truly hard to say, mainly because he had a lot on his plate. Plus, he and Yu Zhiyi weren’t in that kind of relationship.

Even if they flirted a little, nothing really happened between them.

But they did share a friendship, so all things considered. Only when he had spare time could he make good on his promises.

Yu Zhiyi understood this.

Her mindset was more straightforward; since nothing could really happen, every bit of joy was an extra.

She valued the process more than the outcome.

Especially after entering Beihua University, having witnessed certain things, this mindset grew stronger.

Compared to ephemeral happiness, what’s in front of her mattered more.

That day, he did not flake.

The two successfully met at the airport, Jiang Nian had bought the ticket. Seeing the ticket reminded him of Chen Yunyun.

Sigh.

This whole situation.

Though he’s not a superman, things needed to be cleared up, or else it would harm Yunyun.

As for Wang Yuhe, well...

He didn’t think too much.

The two girls were very close, and after Chen Yunyun returned to school, Wang Yuhe basically stopped contacting Jiang Nian.

Any messages from her were just a couple of emojis.

Between the two friendships, the elementary choice was Chen Yunyun. It made sense, expectedly.

So, there was no need for consideration.

At the boarding gate.

"You really didn’t flake on me." Yu Zhiyi was a bit surprised, carrying a small suitcase in her hand.

"I’ve been too busy lately." Jiang Nian said casually, glancing at her, "Why a suitcase for just two days?"

"You wouldn’t understand, stay out of girls’ business." Yu Zhiyi rolled her eyes at him, not afraid to make him angry.

She had mostly figured out Jiang Nian’s temper; small jokes here and there were fine, as long as you didn’t constantly bug him.

As for the airfare, she didn’t overthink it either. She could’ve paid herself, just meant she’d spend less next month.

On the plane, before takeoff, the tray tables were stowed away. It was already dark outside, so the windows were shut too.

During ascent, the cabin grew dim.

Shuffling sounds.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Nian turned, a bit speechless, looking at Yu Yourong, "Taking advantage of me?"

"No way, you really are... " Yu Zhiyi gritted her teeth, enduring the discomfort during the climb.

A slight ringing in her ears, a bit dizzy.

She said, "I prepared a sleep mask for both of us so it’d be easier for us to sleep."

"I don’t need it." Jiang Nian replied.

"Why not?" Yu Zhiyi was genuinely annoyed, this guy was always contradicting her, such a frenemy.

"No reason, just don’t want to say." Jiang Nian glanced at the round window, "You wear it yourself."

Yu Zhiyi followed his gaze, looking slightly down.

"...."

"You.... " She laughed angrily, putting on the sleep mask herself, "Fine, don’t wear it. My good intentions wasted."

The moment the mask was on, everything went dark.

Suddenly feeling a bit tense, Yu Zhiyi instinctively reached for Jiang Nian’s hand but stopped, afraid he’d push it away.

Hesitating, her palm felt a touch of warmth.

Jiang Nian had taken her hand on his own. He didn’t say anything, merely fiddling with the screen on the seat with the other hand.

"Let’s sleep."

Yu Zhiyi: "Okay."