Actually, Xu Nian was quite happy.
During the process just now, he could naturally see that Yang Shuli had only returned to her previous state after his arrival. In other words, as soon as he reached her side, Yang Shuli gave up her stress response.
This was a good enough omen, indicating that Yang Shuli saw him as a symbol of reassurance.
That was it.
Just like the time they crossed the road at the beach, Yang Shuli’s rare moments of initiative and stubbornness would manifest after a stress response, only for her to feel a lingering fear once the situation ended, leading her to start eating incessantly.
But this time, Xu Nian simply walked to her side, and Yang Shuli reverted to her original state.
It could be understood that after encountering such minor incidents now, Yang Shuli considered the matter resolved the moment she saw Xu Nian arrive.
In other words, she now viewed him as the representative of the dust settling—a representative of absolute trust. His presence meant the pain in her heart was about to disappear.
Furthermore, the source of this specific incident was Yang Shuli perceiving that Xu Nian might leave.
This meant that Xu Nian now occupied a significant amount of weight in her heart and possessed a considerable amount of influence. It could be said that his companionship and efforts during this time were not entirely useless.
However, compared to that massive trauma, Xu Nian’s status in Yang Shuli’s heart still wasn’t enough — not high enough and not deep enough.
Perhaps he needed a turning point — a chance to leap over everything else and walk directly into the center of her heart.
He thought, ‘I should follow Yang Shuli home for the New Year during this winter break.’
Perhaps he could even learn exactly what had happened to her from the mouths of her grandparents — whatever it was that had left her with such a massive psychological scar.
He would find a way to know.
“Mobster Xu,” Yang Shuli said, pulling on Xu Nian’s sleeve. “You’re walking too fast.” She simply said that.
“Is it because the difference in our leg lengths is too large?” Xu Nian chuckled softly, still pausing for two steps to wait for Yang Shuli to catch up before slowing his pace to match hers.
“Nonsense.” Yang Shuli stood next to Xu Nian, comparing her legs to his, then gestured to her own belly. “I’m all legs from here down.”
“How come you don’t call me Old Xu anymore?” Xu Nian didn’t bother to expose her lie, instead asking her that question.
“Because I only recently learned about your past. I feel like you’re the type of person who’d say the bigger the waves, the more expensive the fish,” Yang Shuli scratched her head. “I’m a little scared now that I might have done something to break your rules before. After all, you mobsters have so many rules, and you’re always taking people’s hands or feet at the drop of a hat.”
“I feel like you’re leaning into stereotypes a bit, though there are indeed many rules.” Xu Nian pondered for a moment. “Even if you really did break some rule in front of me, would you stop coming to eat with me?”
“That won’t do. One thing is one thing, but food must be eaten.” Yang Shuli waved her hand.
“Then you don’t need to worry about any of that nonsense. With me, you are exempt from all taboos.” Xu Nian loved rubbing Yang Shuli’s head, and she never resisted.
“Oh, that’s fine then.” In Yang Shuli’s way of thinking, such things were quickly pushed aside; she didn’t particularly like serious topics. “Speaking of which, today’s Western food was really gross.”
“Maybe it’s because you ran off before you could even eat dessert.” Xu Nian thought about it; it seemed that both times they had eaten Western food, they had fled halfway through.
“No, that tomato in the pasta felt undercooked to me.” Yang Shuli stuck out her tongue. “It tasted really weird. It wasn’t even as good as the 8 yuan fresh-cut fruit at school.”
“That thing was probably just for decoration. They didn’t intend for you to eat it directly in the first place,” Xu Nian said. “Weren’t there also cucumbers and two lettuce leaves for garnish?”
“I ate those two as well. I think the worst-tasting thing of all was that tomato.”
Yang Shuli was still muttering: “If it’s not meant to be eaten, why put it on the plate?”
Then, she raised both hands in indignation. “I believe that as long as something is placed on a food plate, it should be edible. Except for the plate itself, everything should be able to be stuffed into your mouth. Otherwise, why serve it?”
“To provide emotional value, perhaps? To make you feel like the person who cooked the food spent time on it,” Xu Nian provided the correct answer.
“Then it’s even more unnecessary. That kind of thing is the least necessary for a diner. When I eat steamed buns, I’ll even use my phone to watch food videos to make myself believe I’m eating delicacies.” Yang Shuli waved her hand, clearly disapproving of such redundant behavior.
“To each their own. Some people just feel that compared to other things, spiritual satisfaction is clearly more important,” Xu Nian said. “It’s like taking a photo before eating and posting it to your social media feed, letting your friends ‘eat’ it for half an hour first. By the time the food’s taste has started to change, they finally eat. Those people clearly care more about spiritual satisfaction.”
“I don’t understand.” Yang Shuli shook her head and walked back toward the school with Xu Nian.
The journey wasn’t that far. It was just that in this situation, in this post-meal state, Yang Shuli and Xu Nian preferred to walk along the road like this, discussing trivial things.
Xu Nian would walk by Yang Shuli’s side. Whenever an electric scooter rushed onto the sidewalk in a hurry to deliver food, he would pull Yang Shuli into his arms.
Usually, he would hold her for one or two seconds before letting go, as if giving Yang Shuli time to react.
Afterward, Xu Nian could quite naturally take Yang Shuli’s hand, as if afraid she might be startled again.
Every time they held hands, it would last for quite a long time, until Yang Shuli was suddenly attracted by something on the side of the road and would pull her hand away from his.
Just like now.
“Mobster Xu, look over there! What is that?”
For a moment, Xu Nian didn’t even react to the change in the nickname. Of course, only Yang Shuli would call him that.
He followed her gaze and saw a dazzling flash of gold.
“It’s the second oldest in my dorm and her younger brother. Why are their arms linked together?”
Upon hearing this, Xu Nian looked down at his and Yang Shuli’s hands, which had been joined just ten or so seconds ago.
“They’re siblings. It’s normal.”
“Do siblings walk into an underwear store holding hands?”