She.
“Not eating? Then I’ll eat it myself.”
Qin Nanfeng chuckled and was about to tear open the plastic and take a bite himself.
Unexpectedly, at that moment Lin Xinyuan suddenly made a move, her small hand quickly snatching it away. Then, like a cat guarding its food, she cupped her hands around it and glared at him with her apricot-shaped eyes.
“Who said I don’t want it? I’ll eat it, I’ll eat it with all my might!”
Lin Xinyuan’s little temper flared up. She opened her mouth wide and bit hard into the candied hawthorn, but immediately felt her teeth ache, so she released her bite.
“Where did you buy this candied hawthorn? It’s so hard, the sugar coating can’t even be bitten…”
Lin Xinyuan covered her mouth with one hand, staring incredulously at the candied hawthorn in her palm. The tears she had just held back welled up again, brimming in her eyes.
“Eh, is that so? Let me try?”
Qin Nanfeng hadn’t thought of that. Seeing the girl’s pitiful little expression at her teeth, he felt a bit mischievous but restrained himself from laughing.
“Here!”
Even the candied hawthorn was bullying her!
The girl scowled in frustration and handed the candied hawthorn over, puffing her cheeks in silent sulking, but quietly stepped closer, narrowing the distance between them.
Qin Nanfeng noticed her subtle move and smirked inwardly, though his expression remained serious. He looked solemnly at the red skewer he had taken.
A flicker of playful malice gleamed in his eyes as he leaned in close and began to taste it.
But unlike the girl, he didn’t bite directly. Instead, he held the piece of candied hawthorn that she had bitten, as if kissing it, his gaze lingering faintly on her.
In Lin Xinyuan’s stunned gaze, he successfully softened the sugar coating and bit into the hawthorn inside.
Lin Xinyuan was completely bewildered. A flush of warmth rushed to her cheeks…
This guy…
Indirectly, in the middle of the…
“Y-you… what are you doing?”
“Eating candied hawthorn!” Qin Nanfeng looked at Lin Xinyuan with a strange expression. “Isn’t the sugar coating sugar? Can’t you hold sugar in your mouth?”
“It’s… yes, but you still can’t… do it like that…”
“So what?”
Qin Nanfeng acted puzzled, making Lin Xinyuan hold back her words. Feeling the heat on her face, she quickly turned around and hurried forward.
“N-nothing… let’s go…”
The girl’s graceful figure seemed flustered, as if afraid of something, which made Qin Nanfeng squint his eyes with delight. He chuckled softly and strode after her.
“You still haven’t said, so what now?”
The girl said nothing, only kept walking.
Until Qin Nanfeng, walking closely behind, suddenly grabbed her small hand.
“Y-you… what are you doing…”
Lin Xinyuan was startled and stopped walking to look back. Seeing it was Qin Nanfeng, she breathed a sigh of relief, but then realized how ambiguous this gesture was and shook her hand to break free.
“Slow down a bit, if you walk so fast you won’t see anything.”
“Fine, fine, just let go first, don’t touch me…”
Even with the fingerless gloves in between, Lin Xinyuan still felt the burning warmth from the young man’s hand, which made her a little flustered.
She tried to pry her hand away with the other hand, but obviously, with such a big difference in strength, it was futile.
She could only helplessly give up.
Yet, even as she said that, Qin Nanfeng showed no sign of loosening his grip. On the contrary, he held on tighter, wrapping her slender, white fingers completely in his palm.
“R…”
Lin Xinyuan murmured, that tangled feeling returning again. The warmth made her happy, reluctant to refuse, but the reason deep inside reminded her how ambiguous their behavior was.
“Aren’t you afraid you won’t see me?” Qin Nanfeng raised their tightly joined hands. “Holding hands is enough. Besides, your body temperature’s a bit low. Holding hands like this should feel a lot more comfortable, right?”
“Who’s afraid of not seeing you? I was just worried you’d walk too far ahead…”
Lin Xinyuan stubbornly retorted, then glanced away, hesitant to meet Qin Nanfeng’s sincere eyes. “But it really is warm… hmm… it’s just that my body’s too weak… but is it really just that?”
Her words carried an unspoken question, but Qin Nanfeng only smiled faintly, innocent and harmless, as if he hadn’t heard.
“Why not? Because we’re best friends… of course we help each other. You’re not feeling well, so as a friend, shouldn’t I be able to help?”
Lin Xinyuan thought it over carefully and found nothing wrong with that.
After all, she had very few friends, and none that close. Most of her experience with friendship came from novels she had read. She didn’t know if it was true or not, nor how exactly “best friends” interacted or where the boundaries were.
Was this how it was supposed to be?
Why did it feel so much like a boyfriend and girlfriend?
So ambiguous!
The girl was naive about romance but not stupid. Feeling the warmth, she was reluctant to give up and didn’t have the heart to refuse, letting Qin Nanfeng hold her hand as he wished.
Qin Nanfeng led that soft, seemingly boneless hand to the back of the Milk Tea shop’s line.
“Thirsty?”
“Not really…”
“Hmm, that means you are.”
Both of them were strikingly good-looking, inevitably drawing attention from nearby young people in line, who all looked at them with envy.
The wait wasn’t long. Soon Qin Nanfeng bought two cups of Milk Tea.
Considering Lin Xinyuan was on her Period, he specially bought her a hot cup, while his was room temperature.
After walking a bit away, Qin Nanfeng released her hand and handed her the cup. “Here, drink up. It’s hot.”
Feeling the warmth disappear, Lin Xinyuan’s heart surged with an indescribable sense of loss. She shook her head silently and accepted the Milk Tea.
She really… had no hope…
She was actually craving the hand of that annoying yellow-haired guy…
Is Estrogen really that terrifying?
With this thought, Lin Xinyuan inserted the straw and took a small sip of the Milk Tea.
De…
It was actually not bad?
She looked at the cup in surprise. It was her first time drinking hot Milk Tea, but somehow it was quite good—a unique flavor.
Lin Xinyuan took another sip, savoring it carefully, then another, and another…
The sweetness mixed with the warmth soothed her slightly dry throat, and the faint pain in her lower abdomen seemed to ease a bit, her mood gradually brightening, quickly dispelling her earlier disappointment.
Just then, Lin Xinyuan suddenly felt her free hand being grasped again. She looked up to see the culprit.
Qin Nanfeng acted naturally, smiling and pulling her along as they continued forward. “Let’s go inside and see what fun things there are.”
Lin Xinyuan didn’t answer, only stared blankly at that big hand, aimlessly being pulled along.
After regaining her senses, she looked at the young man ahead with a complex expression.
She wasn’t sure if letting Qin Nanfeng find her was a good thing anymore…
This growing trust in the annoying yellow-haired guy—was it really a good thing?
Or was it accelerating her descent into estrogen poisoning?
Lin Xinyuan didn’t know, but she genuinely trusted Qin Nanfeng from her heart. Being with him—even if just chatting online—made her feel comfortable in a way no one else could replace.
Though sometimes, this guy made her so angry it was maddening!
Lin Xinyuan couldn’t help but wonder if Qin Nanfeng would never get married someday…
Then she could work in Tianbei too, and they could see each other often and hang out together.
But Lin Xinyuan knew that was just wishful thinking.
Friends were still friends, and there were limits…
At that moment, an absurd idea she had never dared to think before suddenly surfaced in her mind…
But then her gaze darkened.
Even if she could accept it…
Would he really be able to?
Probably not…