A date on the First Snow, huh. She did remember that the Plan of Atonement included spending Christmas with Jiang Xiao watching the snow.
Song Qiuyu lowered her eyes, looking at the delicately packed apple in her hand, feeling a slight heaviness in her chest.
“You’re trying to say you’re really sentimental now?” “No.”
Jiang Xiao shook his head gently. “I just wanted to say, you’re right. Maybe it’s time for me to properly say goodbye to Xi’er.”
“?”
Song Qiuyu was taken aback.
“After all, I have someone I like even more now.”
Jiang Xiao lowered his eyes, gazing into hers as he spoke seriously.
Song Qiuyu nearly lost control of her expression, utterly shocked inside. [Making Jiang Xiao give up on Shen Xi had always been one of her goals, but now it seemed Jiang Xiao was just jumping out of one pit into another.]
“Don’t forget your phone is still with me…”
Before she could finish, Song Qiuyu suddenly froze, her heart racing.
If the person in front of her had really decided to forget Shen Xi, would those memories between them still be a threat to him?
Guys, this seems like a huge pitfall.
Seeing her go from sudden realization to a dazed, frightened look, Jiang Xiao curved his lips and couldn’t help but let out a laugh.
Song Qiuyu eyed Jiang Xiao warily. She knew better than anyone how clever and cunning he was!
But she really hadn’t expected that after she treated him so well, he’d turn around and play such a trick on her.
“Happy April Fools’ Day?”
Jiang Xiao suddenly spoke again, unable to resist lowering his head. He bent a finger and gently traced her high, delicate nose.
“Mm.”
The bridge of her nose, brushed by his knuckle, tingled with a faint warmth and itchiness.
Song Qiuyu stared blankly at Jiang Xiao, a little lost.
Two seconds passed, and her expression grew complicated.
She might not be the best student or the sharpest mind, but she wasn’t a fool.
The feelings in Jiang Xiao’s every action—how could she not sense them?
Perhaps liking someone really did make you want to tease them all the time.
Maybe, so Jiang Xiao wouldn’t get too hurt, she ought to play along a little?
So, she pursed her lips ever so slightly, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes: “Childish!” “Let’s go.”
Jiang Xiao chuckled, not denying his childishness at all.
After all, the one he liked was even more childish than he was.
“So, what are you going to do with this apple?” Song Qiuyu mused, thinking of Jiang Xiao’s earlier words.
[Just a few days left in these twelve months, and this month, Jiang Xiao had completely become the person she’d originally wanted to see.]
He said he wanted to say goodbye to Shen Xi—it probably wasn’t a joke.
If he really did it, wouldn’t he be even more focused on chasing after her?
Song Qiuyu dared not imagine that future.
If Jiang Xiao took the initiative, there probably weren’t many girls who could resist.
The thing was, she herself seemed to have pretty much become a girl now.
In tastes, and in everything else.
“The apple’s already yours, so you get to decide for me, of course.”
Jiang Xiao smiled as he spoke, reaching out to ruffle her small head.
“After all, you’re the one I like now.” “Uh…”
Song Qiuyu froze for a moment, then snapped back to herself, immediately glancing around anxiously for any familiar faces.
“Jiang Xiao, if you keep this up, I really will delete everything on your phone, and I’ll clear your recently deleted, too!”
She warned him with utter seriousness, only to see the person in front of her suddenly turn and run off, even making a provocative gesture as he glanced back.
“Jiang Xiao, get back here!”
Song Qiuyu blinked, then took a deep breath. Like Jiang Taigong fishing for a willing catch, she voluntarily bit the hook and chased after Jiang Xiao.
“Don’t run, the doctor said you can’t overexert yourself!”
She called out between breaths, pointing at the person running ahead.
“That doesn’t count as strenuous exercise. I’m not even out of breath!”
Jiang Xiao retorted calmly.
“Haa… mm… Don’t forget your phone… Your phone is still with me!!”
Song Qiuyu couldn’t outtalk him or outrun him, so she kept chasing him, constantly threatening him with the contents of his phone.
Sure enough, Jiang Xiao didn’t look afraid at all.
So they ended up running all the way back to the school playground before Jiang Xiao finally stopped, and the one chasing him couldn’t brake in time.
“Ah!”
Caught off guard, Song Qiuyu crashed right into Jiang Xiao’s arms, her burning cheeks burying into his firm chest.
Solid.
This distance was too dangerous! Too ambiguous!
Realizing this, she quickly tried to step back, but the person in front of her pulled away first and handed her a small, unopened packet of paper napkins.
“Warm-up’s over.”
Jiang Xiao helped her tear open the packet, pulled out two napkins, and handed them to her with a refreshing smile.
“Good work.”
“Haa…”
Song Qiuyu bit her lip lightly, panting as she wiped the sweat from her cheeks with her sleeve.
She kept her head bowed low, a glint of helplessness and grievance in her eyes.
She couldn’t help but wonder—since when had she let Jiang Xiao play her like this?
Help! Why did my younger self have to provoke Jiang Xiao?
She really was about to cry.
Full of regret and guilt, she bit her lip, slowly raised her eyes, pinched her fingertips together, and reached out to take the two napkins.
“Thanks, Jiang Xiao!”
Then, she forced herself to smile brightly as usual.
She straightened her back and, out of habit, reached up to touch her head, only to find her hood had long since slipped down onto her back.
She paused for a second, then, napkin in hand, slowly lowered her lashes and carefully wiped the sweat from her flushed cheeks, tilting her chin up to dab her smooth jawline, cocking her head to wipe her pale neck.
Jiang Xiao watched her quietly, eyes full of focus. Soon, she’d wiped away most of the sweat.
“Ready to start?”
Jiang Xiao extended his left hand, signaling for her to hand over the used napkins so he could throw them away for her.
“Mm.”
Song Qiuyu’s head was burning, and she panted a few more times. After a moment’s hesitation, she handed him the napkins soaked with sweat.
All these days of training, Jiang Xiao always threw away her sweaty napkins for her—he was just too considerate.
Seriously, who in their right mind would want to touch something so sticky and damp, reeking of sweat?
But Jiang Xiao would.
Unfortunately, she was shameless and wouldn’t be touched or have her heart race just because he threw away a napkin for her.
When Jiang Xiao came back from tossing the napkins, Song Qiuyu followed his lead and began the Final Strengthening Training.
This time, it wasn’t just Song Qiuyu moving—Jiang Xiao joined in too.
He was doing right-arm push-ups, but his gaze never left the person beside him for a second, his handsome face always wearing a look of admiration.
In the afternoon, the Physical Fitness Test began right on time.
There were always some differences between the Male Group and Female Group’s test items.
While the girls struggled with sit-ups, the boys were sweating over pull-ups.
When the Male Group had to run a thousand meters, the Female Group only needed to run eight hundred.
As a girl mixed into the Male Group, Song Qiuyu never expected to get high marks—she just wanted to pass and get her scholarship.
While she followed instructions during the test, Jiang Xiao, who had already applied for an exemption, also came nearby.
Classmates gathered around, chatting in whispers.
“Song Qiuyu looks so girly, but who knew she’d be so manly at pull-ups?”
“That waist is powerful, like a nuclear reactor! Song Qiuyu’s future girlfriend is going to be happy.”
“Why can’t it be a boyfriend?”
“She’s tiny, but so cute! A cute boy is really something, even sweating like this. Look at that sweat running down the collarbone, it’s kind of seductive! Sigh~”
“You’re just drooling over their body! Shameless!”
Jiang Xiao heard all the chatter around him, but just quietly admired Song Qiuyu struggling through her pull-ups.
As for Song Qiuyu herself, of course she heard it too.
She ignored it, only silently giving Jiang Xiao a mental thumbs-up and feeling deeply grateful for all his training over this period.
In a flash, all the test items were over. Under the intense gaze of everyone present, Song Qiuyu wiped her sweat with her black sports jacket’s sleeve and walked off to the side for a rest.
Then she saw someone secretly taking photos of her and posting them online, and someone else running over to give her water.
A smile curled at her lips. She hadn’t made a video all month; letting them film a few and post them for some buzz sounded good. Plus, free water was nice, too!
After sweating so much during the test, she felt completely refreshed and in a great mood!
Just then, Jiang Xiao’s figure suddenly appeared in her sight.