Jiang Xiao said with a smile.
“I do!”
The little girl nodded.
She said she wanted to buy, then pointed at Jiang Xiao and shouted, “Mom, I want to take this big brother home!”
As soon as these words came out, the young mother and Song Qiuyu both seemed stunned. Song Qiuyu’s brain automatically translated “buying him” into the idea of “keeping him.”
‘Little girls nowadays are so bold. But most boys would probably just run away when meeting a girl like that.’
‘Boys generally prefer girls who can satisfy their desire for conquest.’
Thinking of this, she pursed her lips in a somewhat unhappy manner, suddenly feeling a bit envious of the little girl who dared to speak her mind.
The young mother apologized and quickly hurried the girl away. Jiang Xiao shook his head to show it was fine, then looked up at the person running past not far away, his eyes narrowing slightly.
‘Running like that while on her period… isn’t she afraid of the pain?’
Song Qiuyu soon began to feel stomach pains.
But after crouching for a while until the pain subsided, she continued her slow walk. Like a little butterfly circling a flower, she kept flying back and forth in front of Jiang Xiao.
In the blink of an eye, it was lunchtime. This little butterfly had been flying for an entire morning.
Seeing that Song Qiuyu was about to run by again, Jiang Xiao intentionally declined the lunch offered by the shop owner and simply continued working.
Song Qiuyu watched Jiang Xiao continue to work. At first, she didn’t think much of it, but when she finished another lap and came back, she was shocked to find that Jiang Xiao had no intention of eating lunch. She couldn’t take it anymore and simply sat back down on that bench.
“Are you that short on money?”
Song Qiuyu asked, gritting her teeth.
As she spoke, she hastily opened her backpack, fumbled out a few small packs of dried tofu, and secretly stuffed them into Jiang Xiao’s coat pocket.
Jiang Xiao smiled without a word. He didn’t look at her, focusing on holding his sign and working, letting her give him the food.
“Even if you’re short on money, you have to eat properly. Your health is the most important thing!”
Saying this, Song Qiuyu pulled a corn cob out of her backpack, tore open the packaging, and took a bite. Her cheeks puffed out as she chewed, a smile appearing on her face.
Only then did Jiang Xiao unable to resist turning his face to look at her.
“This corn is really good. Do you want a bite?”
Song Qiuyu didn’t seem to think it through, bringing the bitten corn cob directly to his lips.
Jiang Xiao didn’t even look at the corn. He just glanced around the area. Seeing that she was also looking around, he took advantage of her distraction and leaned in, kissing away a stray crumb of corn on the corner of her mouth.
Feeling her lip being licked, Song Qiuyu froze. Within a few breaths, her neck turned red.
She knew what was happening, but she still instinctively spoke up, “Didn’t you say you didn’t like me anymore? That the liking was all fake, all revenge?”
“You actually believed it when I was talking out of anger?”
Jiang Xiao stared at her, clearly moved. She was always approaching him so defenselessly like this. How was his heart, which he wanted to harden, supposed to stay that way if it kept softening?
“But I wasn’t talking out of anger. I’m serious about clearing things up with you!”
Song Qiuyu stood up hurriedly, like a small animal suddenly realizing a danger. However, she grabbed another handful of snacks from her backpack and placed them on the bench before retreating in a panic with her bag.
Jiang Xiao picked up a corn cob from the pile of snacks, feeling a bit helpless. “It looks like someone is going to be running all day today.”
Sure enough, the little butterfly continued to fly in front of him all afternoon.
The more she ran, the less strength she had. She became weaker and weaker. As time went on, people even began to gather to watch her run.
This scrutiny made the thin-skinned Song Qiuyu flush with embarrassment. Even so, she continued her jog as before, stealing glances as before.
Jiang Xiao kept his eyes downcast, remaining silent. Certain emotions churning in his heart became even more impossible to suppress.
When the red sun began to sink in the west, Song Qiuyu saw Jiang Xiao pack up and leave the flower shop. Thus, she stopped running and headed home. However, halfway there, just because she took an extra look at a roadside cigarette stall, she made the boldest decision of her life.
She bought a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. As a beginner, she went to the smoking area of a park, sat on a bench, and clumsily tried to light a cigarette.
She had never done this before, but other boys she knew did it often. They said that with just one puff, they could forget many troubles and that doing it was cool.
Song Qiuyu never thought it was cool. She only knew that her father never smoked and that smoking was harmful to the body!
Even knowing it would harm her, she felt a sudden, rebellious urge to try it today.
She didn’t know if it was really like they said—that it could make one forget their troubles…
The next moment, she was suddenly enveloped in a shadow. The cigarette she couldn’t quite light was snatched away with a *whoosh*!
Song Qiuyu looked up.
Actually, she didn’t even need to look. she had already recognized him by his scent.
It was Jiang Xiao.
“I couldn’t tell. You actually dare to smoke?”
Jiang Xiao reached out his hand to her.
“Hand over the rest, or I’ll tell your parents about this!”
“But I haven’t even had one puff…”
Song Qiuyu didn’t dare to look at him, hurriedly putting the cigarette box into her pocket.
“I have something that’s better at getting rid of troubles than this. I’ll trade you for it, okay?”
Jiang Xiao tilted his head.
“Huh?”
Song Qiuyu was stunned.
Jiang Xiao didn’t keep pressuring her. He watched her quietly. Then he saw her purse her lips, lower her head, and after a brief hesitation, eventually hold out the cigarette pack and lighter with both hands as if making an offering.
“By the way, you’re on your period today, aren’t you? Why did you run all day?”
Jiang Xiao tucked the two items away and unzipped his backpack.
“Because…”
Song Qiuyu looked away guiltily, her brows knitting. She scratched the back of her neck with her small hand. “Because more exercise helps stabilize hormones, so I can change back…”
“Is that so?”
Jiang Xiao laughed softly and pulled a prepared bouquet out of the backpack.
“Here, for you.”
Looking at this bouquet, the expression on Song Qiuyu’s face gradually became complex, turning into shock.
Yellow roses? But the center of the flowers was entirely made of White Rabbit Creamy Candy, and there were many Game Figurines tucked inside… even Keqing was there…
Thinking about how Jiang Xiao hadn’t left but had worked at the flower shop without eating or drinking, she suddenly realized a terrifying possibility.
‘Was this all for me again?’
She couldn’t help but be moved. Who could endure being pushed away so many times by the person they liked? Even the most resolute feelings should be worn down.
Yet Jiang Xiao couldn’t be pushed away no matter what? Instead, as the victim, he was here to coax her, the perpetrator.
Her heart pounded violently. She stared at this special bouquet—to be more accurate, a bouquet specifically designed to target her. She couldn’t move.
She was tightly bound by many things, one of which was a love that began with a lie.
The opening of their story was undoubtedly a disaster, but what about the ending?
“Could it be…?”
“Not entirely. Trading the bouquet was only one of the reasons I was working.”
Jiang Xiao seemed to know exactly what she wanted to say. He shook his head and explained, “The bigger reason is that I owe a massive debt.”
Song Qiuyu was stunned. Jiang Xiao was in debt? It couldn’t be a loan shark, right? But what would Jiang Xiao need that much money for?
“It’s a full Two Billion Dollars. Working at a flower shop might not be enough. Do you think I should consider selling a kidney or something?”
Jiang Xiao laughed bitterly.
Song Qiuyu stood frozen.
“Xi’er, do you know the Language of Yellow Roses?”
Seeing her reaction, Jiang Xiao’s voice became gentle as he changed the subject.
Upon hearing this, Song Qiuyu took out her phone and quickly looked it up. Her pupils slowly dilated, and she looked at Jiang Xiao blankly.
She had never hated her original gender or her past so much. She loathed her younger self. Her hand holding the bouquet trembled, unable to calm down.
She might be destined to never meet her own “treasure girl” in this life, but she had already met a shining “treasure boy.”
This treasure boy’s heart and eyes were full of her.
“I…”
She bit her lip hard, bit by bit packing away and organizing everything linked to her original gender, wishing she could discard them entirely.
Just like the Language of Yellow Roses, she wanted to be reborn as a girl and start a new life.
In that life, there would no longer be a boy who was pointed at because he looked like a girl. There would no longer be a boy who had both parents but was unloved.
There would only be a happy young girl kept in a jar of honey.
“But can a bad person like me really enjoy such a good thing?”
She accidentally whispered her true feelings. They fell into Jiang Xiao’s ears like spring rain, quickly nourishing the soil that had been parched by anxiety.
“As long as you want it, my Xi’er deserves the best things in the whole world!”
Jiang Xiao said with a profoundly serious smile.
Song Qiuyu looked at the bouquet dazed. She picked up one of the creamy candies and looked at it for a long time. Then, she smiled as if a heavy burden had been lifted. Tilting her head, she looked into Jiang Xiao’s eyes.
“Jiang Xiao, can you come home with me? I have something… I must tell my parents!”
Looking at the girl in front of him holding the yellow rose bouquet and smiling brightly, Jiang Xiao became dazed for a moment before smiling along.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Arriving at the front door, Song Qiuyu took a deep breath. Then, with determined eyes, she softly knocked on the door.
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