Could it be that she drank the milk tea he bought, and then, right in front of him, accepted the bottled water that Xie Zhuran and the others brought?
But that was just it—Jiang Xiao no longer saw her as just a friend, a classmate, or a dormmate; he saw her as someone he liked.
The problem was, this was his unilateral affection, his unilateral jealousy!
Thinking of this, she glanced at those apples and suddenly felt that if she kept ignoring Jiang Xiao like this, maybe he really would stop liking her.
She clearly should ignore him, but somehow she just couldn’t.
Ultimately, this was all the butterfly effect caused by the mistakes she made in her youth!
She had to atone first.
“Jiang Xiao, give me your left hand.”
Jiang Xiao stretched out his left hand, and then he saw the person beside him purse her lips, stretch out her neck, and gently rest her chin on his palm, then place her whole head in his open hand!
At that moment, only two words remained in Jiang Xiao’s mind.
So obedient.
Feeling Jiang Xiao’s surprised and burning gaze, Song Qiuyu’s scalp tingled, and she didn’t have the courage to meet his eyes.
She pressed her lips together, struggling for half a second before speaking: “Five minutes.”
“Hm?”
Jiang Xiao was stunned.
“Don’t you like pinching my face?”
Song Qiuyu closed her eyes, her hands balled into fists.
“For five minutes, do whatever you want.”
He had never imagined she’d say something like this.
Jiang Xiao stared blankly at the face in his palm, his chest burning, unable to look away.
He’d thought that as soon as the cast was off his arm, with her personality, she would definitely keep her distance.
Now, hearing that he was jealous, she had instead closed the distance and brought herself to him.
“But Jiang Xiao, I have to make it clear, this doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind and want to be your girlfriend. Once this month is over, I’ll move out immediately!”
“I just can’t stand to see you unhappy, and since your arm is still healing, your mood really matters.”
Song Qiuyu frowned, adjusting her position in Jiang Xiao’s palm as she tried to find a comfortable spot.
Jiang Xiao’s palm was so warm—almost scalding. This really wasn’t a place her head should be resting.
Besides, putting her head on his hand like this was so embarrassing, but as long as she closed her eyes and couldn’t see, it wasn’t a big problem!
“Mm, I know.”
Jiang Xiao couldn’t help but lower his head.
His right arm stretched out slowly, drawing close to her tightly pressed lips as he stared down.
“Wait, I haven’t started the timer yet!”
Suddenly, Song Qiuyu opened her mouth, flustered.
“I’ll do it.”
Jiang Xiao’s right hand wasn’t very nimble, but he managed to fish his phone out of his pocket and set the timer for five minutes.
The phone was the one Song Qiuyu had given him before she went to the physical exam, so he could message Shen Xi on time.
–Today’s message would also be a nice surprise for Song Qiuyu.
After setting the phone down, Jiang Xiao caught Song Qiuyu sneaking a look with one eye, checking if he really started the timer, and couldn’t help but pause in surprise.
He let out a short laugh, licked his lips with both frustration and amusement, feeling that no matter how much he pinched her cheeks, it was never enough.
Song Qiuyu closed her eyes again, looking especially well-behaved.
“Jiang Xiao, this phone—I don’t think you need to give it back to me anymore.”
As soon as she finished, she sharply sensed Jiang Xiao’s breath again falling on her face.
She tried to hold her breath but ended up inhaling even more.
“Why?”
Jiang Xiao glanced at the timer’s start button.
“Because it can’t threaten you at all anymore. It all depends on your own conscience.”
Song Qiuyu felt uncertain, but deep down she still wanted to trust Jiang Xiao wouldn’t be so heartless as to destroy the relationship they’d built over so long.
More importantly, she had helped Jiang Xiao bathe so many times before, and he had restrained himself, hadn’t done anything.
So she wanted to believe him—they hadn’t reached the point where they couldn’t even be friends if they couldn’t be lovers.
There was still hope.
Jiang Xiao pressed the start button.
“Ugh! Jiang Xiao, gentler! You’re going to break my face…”
Her cheeks were freely squished and pinched by Jiang Xiao, Song Qiuyu squeezing her eyes shut and unable to keep from protesting.
Halfway through her words, she felt Jiang Xiao, taking advantage of her speaking, touch her two front teeth with his fingers, making her tremble.
Those were the two teeth that had bitten Jiang Xiao’s fingertip before.
“Little Leaf…”
Jiang Xiao brought his lips close to her ear and spoke in a low voice.
Her mouth was forced open, and Song Qiuyu tried to suppress the tingling in her ears, instinctively turning her face to avoid his warm breath.
To call her that at a time like this—what was he thinking? Why did she feel like every move she made was right within Jiang Xiao’s plan?
A chill ran down her spine, and she resolved this would not happen again. The next time Jiang Xiao got jealous, she wouldn’t coax him.
When the month was over and the Stage Play was done, she’d move out—out of sight, out of mind!
Seeing her reaction, Jiang Xiao felt sure of his suspicion.
As expected, even when she saw the updated note, she chose to pretend nothing had happened.
Silly as ever, thinking their relationship could go back to what it once was.
“You saw the note I changed?”
“Uh, yeah, I saw it. But Jiang Xiao, I’ve already made myself clear.” Song Qiuyu emphasized in embarrassment.
“So stop touching my teeth, just pinch my cheeks. You only have five minutes, you know, it won’t be available after that.”
“You don’t hate me, do you?”
He originally just wanted to tease her, but Song Qiuyu’s reaction made Jiang Xiao reluctant to stop.
After all, who said lips and ears weren’t part of the face?
“I…”
Song Qiuyu didn’t dare hesitate too long; every extra second of indecision would just hurt Jiang Xiao a bit more.
She spoke decisively: “I don’t hate you!”
Jiang Xiao was surprised, but after thinking about it, it made sense—Song Qiuyu was that kind of person.
Even if her head told her to hurt him, what she actually said and did was usually just the opposite.
Knowing this only made things more frustrating and gave him a headache.
Clearly, he needed her to like him a little more, and trust him a little more.
“Mm, time’s about up.”
Jiang Xiao smiled and let go of her reddened cheeks, picked up the phone, and pressed pause.
Had it only been a minute? He’d save the rest of the time for later.
After all, for now, he could only pinch her cheeks.
“Five minutes passed that fast? Why does it feel like only a minute?” Song Qiuyu opened her eyes and reached for Jiang Xiao’s phone.
“Time flies.”
Naturally, Jiang Xiao wouldn’t give her the chance.
In Song Qiuyu’s line of sight, he simply shoved the phone back into his pocket, then deliberately crossed one leg over the other.
Determined to get the phone, Song Qiuyu’s small hand reached Jiang Xiao’s pocket, but realizing it was already inside, she finally pursed her lips and gave up.
If she forced it, she might touch something she shouldn’t.
As for the timer, she could only convince herself she was overthinking it; it really had been five minutes.
“Anyway, you must be feeling better now, right?”
She rubbed her heated cheeks, her voice soft.
“It’s not like I can’t understand your jealousy. Honestly, I kind of appreciate your straightforwardness.”
She sighed inwardly.
If Jiang Xiao had bottled up his jealousy and picked fights, that would’ve really made her miserable.
It was a blessing that Jiang Xiao could speak his mind.
She looked seriously at Jiang Xiao.
“But I still hope you can understand—our relationship isn’t the kind where you have the right to get jealous!”
“Mm. I know. We’re classmates, dormmates, friends—nothing more, right?”
“Yeah!” Though honestly, not entirely nothing more.
Jiang Xiao smiled as he continued packing apples. “Let’s not talk about this now. Look at all these apples—let’s go hand them out together in a bit, okay?”
Song Qiuyu smiled too. She was thinking the same thing.
She had planned to deliver apples as the Leader of Dorm 602 anyway.
So it wouldn’t just be Jiang Xiao; the other two would come along as well.
Delivering Silent Night Apples on Christmas Eve was a job for all four of them!
After that, the four members of 602 Dormitory gathered in front of the Class Counselor’s office and delivered the first apple to their most beloved Class Counselor.
Song Qiuyu had a long list of people to give apples to—anyone who had helped her during this time and whose name she knew, she’d give an apple.
But she wasn’t the only one with this idea; in the end, the more apples they gave out, the more they received in return.
So…
Good news: their circle of friends was even stronger.
Bad news: there were so many apples, they’d never finish eating them.
“With all these apples, I guess we’ll have to find new ways to eat apples every day for the next month!”
Xie Zhuran looked at the table piled high with apples in the dorm, not sure whether to laugh or cry, and finally couldn’t help clutching his head in dismay.
This made Song Qiuyu picture Jiang Xiao holding his head the same way.
But she couldn’t deny it was a real headache. Eating apples nonstop for a month—wouldn’t that make you sick?
“Luckily, there are lots of ways to eat apples. We shouldn’t get tired of them too fast.”
Lin An turned to look at Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao, who had already moved out, pushed up his glasses, and smiled.
“But since electric appliances are strictly forbidden in the dorm, this important task will have to be done at your rental place.”
“Ways to eat apples, huh.”
Song Qiuyu frowned in thought, her eyes lighting up.
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