“Ah! I’m so bored! I’ve been stuck at home so long I’m losing my mind!”
In the living room, Tang Yayun sat absentmindedly on the sofa scrolling through her phone. She felt increasingly restless; this kind of life had already persisted for days. All she did was play on her phone from morning till night. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore and began to complain loudly.
“It’s not that bad,” Lin Xinyuan replied. She didn’t find it particularly difficult; she was enough of a homebody that this level of isolation was nothing to her.
“Sister, you and Brother-in-law are all lovey-dovey every day, of course you’re fine! Tang Chengmin and I are practically dying!” Tang Yayun shook her head and sighed, looking toward her older brother for support. “Right, Bro?”
Tang Chengmin was speechless. He actually felt fine, but his sister was the type who simply couldn’t sit still. Looking at her blinking eyes, he gave in and echoed, “Yes, yes… you’re right…”
On the other side, Lin Xinyuan felt a bit flustered by Tang Yayun’s blunt words. She stared at her feet, trying to act composed. “What do you mean… we just have a normal relationship…”
“Ah… what are you doing…?”
Before she could finish, she felt her hand being squeezed. Someone was intentionally tickling her palm, forcing a blush and a soft exclamation from her. She shot a “fierce” glare at the “stinky blondie” beside her who was playing with her hand.
Immediately, the siblings let out a collective “tsk-tsk.” Even the usually steady Tang Chengmin sighed repeatedly with a look of mock grief.
“Young lady, and you still say you aren’t? For shame~” Tang Yayun teased, giggling. “I wonder who it was yesterday who refused to get out of bed until Brother-in-law went to wake her up… I wonder who that could be? So hard to guess~”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Mmgph…”
Lin Xinyuan’s face turned bright red as she remembered yesterday’s events. Overwhelmed by their teasing gazes, she swiped away Qin Nanfeng’s wandering hand and—to her own frustration—dived straight into his chest to hide like a turtle in its shell.
This contradictory behavior made the siblings click their tongues again. They exchanged a helpless look of shared misery and sighed in unison. For a moment, the living room was filled with the sound of dramatic groans.
Qin Nanfeng didn’t say a word. He simply wrapped his arm around the girl’s small, soft body, stroking her gently as he felt her nuzzle against him like an embarrassed kitten, a silent smile playing on his lips.
After lunch, at Tang Yayun’s strong insistence, the four of them decided to go out for a walk in the afternoon.
They weren’t going to the town center—if their grandfather found out, he would surely scold them—so they planned to just wander around the village. Grandfather didn’t have the energy of the youth; his idea of fun was reading the paper, watching TV, or playing chess with old friends. He was used to this pace.
During lunch, seeing that his granddaughter was getting restless, he suggested they visit the village sports ground. Tang Yayun accepted immediately. Anywhere was better than staying home.
The sports ground had been funded by the villagers and completed only recently, so the facilities were quite new. It was essentially a community exercise area. Besides a basketball court, there was a section with fitness equipment installed over a sand-covered lot.
Since it was a leisure hour, there were a fair number of people there—mostly children and the elderly. Young adults were few and far between, so the arrival of the four of them felt somewhat conspicuous. Their striking looks drew whispers from the gossiping elders, who began debating whose children they were.
Aside from Lin Xinyuan, who felt a bit awkward, the others didn’t mind the attention. Qin Nanfeng held her hand as they followed the siblings to a set of empty pull-up bars in the corner. It wasn’t that they didn’t want the “fun” equipment like the sky-walkers or the seesaws, but those were all occupied by kids.
“Ugh… those brats. They’re just sitting on them and not even playing. If you aren’t playing, let me play…” Tang Yayun looked at the high, “boring” iron bars in front of her, then at the kids chasing each other on the seesaw, looking indignant. “They’ll learn their lesson if they fall on their butts!”
Seeing her acting like a child herself, Tang Chengmin mocked, “Enough already. If you don’t care about your dignity, I still care about mine. Why don’t you just go join them?”
“Psh, you have dignity? You lost that ages ago, you stinky scumbag brother~” Tang Yayun huffed proudly. “And what if I compete with them? From now on, I’m a child too. Got a problem?”
“Eww~” “Stop mimicking my tone, it’s disgusting!” “I don’t care, I’m doing it anyway.” “Fine! Then I’m a kid too!” “Whatever you say, brat, hehe!” “You’re asking for it! I’m telling Grandpa!”
Watching them bicker like children again, Qin Nanfeng shook his head with a smile. He turned to the girl beside him, raising an eyebrow at the pull-up bar. “Want to try?”
Lin Xinyuan shook her head quickly. “No… I can’t do it…”
She felt a pang of sadness saying that. Back when she was a guy, she could at least do ten standard pull-ups. But since becoming a girl, her body had shrunk, and her physical strength had plummeted. She wasn’t sure she could even pull herself up once.
“Brother Feng, you go ahead. I’ll just watch.”
Qin Nanfeng sensed her mood was a bit off and guessed why, but he simply nodded. “Fine.”
He let go of her hand but didn’t walk forward immediately. Instead, he leaned down slightly and asked with a chuckle, “Aren’t you going to cheer for your boyfriend…?”
Lin Xinyuan stared at him, exasperated. Did he really need encouragement given his athletic level? Still, wanting to be a supportive girlfriend, she suppressed her shyness. “Brother Feng… go for it!”
Her voice was timid and soft, sounding incredibly sweet. A faint scent of oranges drifted to Qin Nanfeng’s nose, making his heart itch. He wanted to do something, but knowing how thin-skinned she was, he suppressed the urge.
However, he wasn’t entirely satisfied. He leaned down further until he was eye-level with her, shamelessly inching his face closer. “Hey girl, give me a kiss first…?”
Lin Xinyuan froze, her face turning crimson. But she didn’t refuse immediately as she usually did. Biting her lip, she looked around stealthily like a thief. Seeing that even the siblings weren’t paying attention, she took advantage of the opening and leaned in.
Mwah—
The moment she finished the kiss, she stood up straight, looking everywhere but at him. Her hands were behind her back, and her legs shifted uneasily. “There… is that enough…?”
“Mmm…” Qin Nanfeng hummed, his eyes twinkling. Before she could react, he leaned in and pecked her blushing cheek. “Delicious…”
“You…!”
The sudden “attack” left her speechless. Once his words sank in, she was overwhelmed with shame. She wanted to scold him, but seeing that the siblings had finished their bickering, she reluctantly kept her mouth shut. She shot him an aggrieved look and turned away, pouting.
No one knew that her heart was actually brimming with shyness and joy, her body trembling slightly. This guy… he always does this… I really… hate him…
“Xinyuan, hold this for me.”
His voice came again, this time gentle and serious, as if the flirtatious rogue from a moment ago had nothing to do with him. A warm sensation touched the back of her hand—it was his jacket.
Lin Xinyuan didn’t dare look at him. She just fumbled to take it and held it tightly to her chest. It’s so warm…
Amidst her racing thoughts, she couldn’t help but look back at him as he gripped the bar. Qin Nanfeng was tall with a wide reach; on this relatively low bar, he had to tuck his legs to keep his feet off the ground.
His body moved up and down with effortless ease. His gray sweater sleeves were pushed up, revealing solid, powerful forearms. As he exerted force, the veins bulged slightly—a sight that was utterly captivating.
The more she watched, the brighter her eyes became. She squeezed the jacket—which smelled of his crisp, clean scent—even tighter, as if trying to merge it with her own body. She couldn’t help herself; she buried her face in the fabric and took a deep breath.
This scent… it was all hers.
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