Proud senior schoolgirl was tender and sweet, we fell in love

A "ding dong" sounded, and the bus arrived at the station.

Xie Xiao got off the bus, looking down, and he could almost see her feigned calmness and expressionless face.

He couldn't help but laugh and replied with a voice message, "Of course, I'm going. It took me so much effort to ask you out."

In her room, Luo Yanran stared at the received voice message, her eyes wide, somewhat afraid to listen.

She glanced at the pastry in her arms, squeezed its little paws, and then nervously played the voice message.

The smile in Xie Xiao's voice came through, and she blushed, listening to it two or three times.

Then, unable to help herself, she kicked around in bed a few times, eventually rubbing her heated face on the pastry.

Her numerous little antics made the pastry in her arms somewhat displeased as it "meowed" unhappily.

It stretched out its paw and scraped her face.

Luo Yanran, unperturbed, curved her lips into a smile, her entire face flushed as she listened to the voice message again, then marked it as favorite.

After clearing her throat, she opened the voice message, just about to speak, "Well..."

She was startled by her own soft voice.

Luo Yanran decisively clicked cancel and ended up sending a text message instead. That voice sounded too...

She sent a message, her face still red.

As Xie Xiao had just opened the door to his house, he received her reply, [Oh, then what's the time and place?]

Cool little girl.

Xie Xiao's eyes were full of indulgence as he smiled slightly, typing as he walked inside.

Only to be shocked by Xie Qingxiao standing silently at the kitchen door, holding a cup of water and watching him.

Not exaggerating, Xie Xiao's back broke out in sweat, a swear word almost slipped out but he swallowed it back.

"Xie Qing, why are you standing there silently!" Xie Xiao said somewhat exasperatedly, his fingers trembling slightly.

All the good mood was replaced by shock.

Xie Qingxiao somewhat speechlessly replied, "How would I know that I'd bump into you sneaking back home when I got up to drink water? I thought you were already asleep. If I had spoken just then, wouldn't you have been scared to death?"

Logical and irrefutable.

Xie Xiao sighed, muttering softly, "But you scared me by staying silent, too."

Xie Qingxiao glanced at him and asked another question, "What were you doing out so late instead of sleeping?"

"I went out for some late-night food, since there's no class tomorrow. I also helped Lin Yu and grandma close their stall," Xie Xiao explained, looking at Xie Qingxiao, "Aren't you going to sleep?"

"You woke me up, can't sleep now. I'm going to pick up your mom in a bit," Xie Qingxiao said, "Your mom is working the night shift today."

The trick of playing victim was clearly mastered by his own Xie Qing.

Xie Xiao, upon hearing he wasn't going to sleep, simply turned on the light directly.

Xie Qingxiao squinted and walked toward the couch, "It's been a while since Lin Yu came over for dinner. When you have time, invite him. Tell him I'll make his favorite pig's feet."

As he spoke, he glanced at Xie Xiao, "And here I thought you were out delivering something for someone in the middle of the night."

Xie Qingxiao took a sip of water, "I spoke with Old Lin today. Your exam results this time didn't seem so good, and it seems you had a conflict with that female classmate?"

Xie Xiao: ...

He first sent Luo Yanran an address and time, adding a message, [I'll pick you up tomorrow. You should go to sleep early, I still need to take a shower.]

Her reply was a cool hmm.

[No need to pick me up, I'll go by myself. See you then.]

After a while, she added a little bear emoticon for good night.

Xie Xiao grinned and then heaved a heavy sigh.

His old man Xie wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk, but his mock exam scores really were a bit outrageous this time, falling from the first in his grade to beyond the 200th.

This was no longer like falling off a cliff; it was like failing even to jump off one.

"Sorry, Mr. Xie, I didn't do well this time." Xie Xiao admitted his mistake first.

Xie Qingxiao wasn't really concerned about that, "Your mom and I have never had big demands about your grades; I'm just worried if your mood is affecting you. Can you talk to me about it?"

As a math teacher at the affiliated school, when Xie Qingxiao spoke to Xie Xiao in such a calm and composed manner, Xie Xiao always felt as though he was talking to the head teacher.

Moreover, this time's academic performance was indeed hard to explain.

Finally, he vaguely said, "It's okay; I've already regulated my mood, and I'll definitely climb back up next time."

Xie Qingxiao, seeing him like this, didn't press further and finally just sighed, "Your mom and I don't really fuss over these things. You've been sensible since you were young. I only hope that if there's something you can't figure out, you can tell me. You know I don't restrict your social interactions."

"Mr. Xie, I really didn't..." Xie Xiao, tired of explaining, heaved a sigh, "Alright, maybe I was somewhat interested in someone before, but not anymore. Now my heart is only set on studying! Studying makes me happy!"

He declared it righteously.

Upon which Xie Qingxiao responded coolly, "Studying still got you to drop to rank 209."

Xie Xiao: ... Can't continue this conversation.

Decisively, he took off his jacket, "I'm off to take a shower and sleep, I'm going to the bookstore with classmates tomorrow. I'll definitely do better next time!"

Xie Qingxiao chuckled and shook his head, "I'm not concerned about that, just be okay. Go sleep early. I'm going to pick up your mom soon, no need to wait for us."

Xie Xiao muttered, "Who's waiting for you guys anyway."

With Xie Qingxiao calling him a cheeky kid, he shut the door.

He glanced at the closed door; he had great parents.

In the end, Xie Xiao stood there listening to the sounds of Xie Qingxiao changing clothes and then footsteps of him leaving for the door.

Only then did he slowly walk into the bathroom.

He had given up explaining the situation with Zhou Mianmian.

All those events over the past two years were real,

and there was nothing to explain.

The future could only prove through actions that he had absolutely no connection with her anymore.

After showering, Xie Xiao picked up his phone. Lin Yu had sent a message saying Liu Ou hadn't accepted his money.

The message was filled with frustration.

Xie Xiao found it slightly amusing and replied, "Then find another way to return it to her, like buying her breakfast or snacks."

Lin Yu sent a sticker back, "You're really a clever one.jpg"

And then stopped responding.

Xie Xiao checking the red notification for a new friend request, clicked it, and sure enough, it was Zhou Mianmian.

She sent a friend request every day, and Xie Xiao would either ignore it or directly reject it.

Usually, she wouldn't send a second one the same day, but she would continue the following day.

This standoff continued just like that.

This time, looking at the friend request, Xie Xiao continued to choose ignore.

After that, he scrolled through his social feed for a while, looking forward to tomorrow's outing and went to bed in a good mood.

He even set an alarm to avoid oversleeping.

He went to sleep happily, but some people couldn't sleep at all.

One was nervous, another was desolate.

Both holding their phones, looking at the same profile picture, but one was on the chat page.

And the other on the add friend page.